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Mauricio Pochettino will offer Romelu Lukaku the chance to «relaunch his career» at Chelsea next season.
Lukaku, who joined the Blues for £97.5m from Inter Milan in the summer of 2021, returned to the Nerazzurri this season on loan following a nightmare spell at Stamford Bridge.
A bombshell interview in which Lukaku criticized then boss Thomas Tuchel’s management did not help his cause as he spent most of the season watching from the sidelines.
His return to Inter also didn’t go to plan, with the Belgian international scoring just five Serie A goals in an injury-ravaged season, though he scored two and set up three in his last two games since holder.
Lukaku is thought to be desperate to stay at Inter, or rather don’t go back to Chelseabut the imminent arrival of Pochettino could be enough to make him change his mind.
Given Chelsea have spent over £600m on new players this season, financial fair play constraints are likely to prevent them from shelling out big bucks for another new striker, and Lukaku’s return could be a huge impetus for the blues shy.
Gazzetta dello Sport claim claim Chelsea’s idea «is to introduce Lukaku to their new project» and to «make him feel what Pochettino has in mind for him».
The report adds: ‘Pochettino will work with the Premier League as the only stage to shape the many young talents who arrived in January. Lukaku will be offered a role in all of this, with the idea of being able to relaunch his career in the championship considered the most important in the world.’
Gabby Agbonlahor believes Lukaku’s return would be a shrewd move by Chelsea.
The former Villa striker said last month: «It’s just their finishing – it’s almost embarrassing when you look at them now. Chelsea just need a striker.
«Have [Hakim] Ziech, [Christian] I clean and not put [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang in the Champions League, it doesn’t make sense to me.
“I would bring Lukaku back. Ivan Toney is also a big screamer. They need someone who will score you goals, all types of goals and who has played in the Premier League.
“It must also be a signature to bind to Financial Fair Play. The amount of money they’ve already spent, they probably can’t go out and buy a £120m striker.
“Make the team play with Lukaku’s strengths. When Lukaku was at Chelsea, [Ben] Cold and [Reece] James was injured and they weren’t putting the ball in the area for him. He wasn’t getting service.
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