Chelsea are open to selling Romelu Lukaku in a cut-price deal this summer as he looks to return to Italy, talkSPORT understands.
The Belgian striker has spent the last two seasons on loan at Inter Milan and Roma, but is now ready to take a major pay cut to join former manager Antonio Conte at his new club, Napoli.
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It means Lukaku is likely to finally seal a permanent move away from Chelsea this summer, three years after his mega-money return to Stamford Bridge which quickly turned into a nightmare deal for club and player.
Chelsea paid £97.5million to re-sign their former striker from Inter Milan in the summer of 2021, after he led the Serie A club to its first league title in a decade - with Conte in charge.
Three years later, Chelsea are ready to make a huge loss on the 31-year-old and willing to accept a cut-price offer of around £29m.
Napoli are currently in talks with the Premier League side over the deal, with Lukaku keen to remain in Italy and link up again with former manager Conte.
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Lukaku is likely to replace Victor Osimhen, who has been tipped to sign for Paris Saint-Germain this summer as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe following his free transfer to Real Madrid.
Osimhem has led the line for Napoli with distinction for the last four seasons and scored 31 goals to spearhead Napoli’s Serie A title in 2022/23.
While fans may not be thrilled with landing Lukaku to take his place, it appears they trust Conte enough to back the deal.
That’s according to Italian football expert Daniele Fisichella, who told talkSPORT Napoli supporters are open to the signing of Lukaku as Conte helps the club rebound from a tough last campaign, which saw the team finish tenth in the table one year on from their champions success.
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“I think Napoli fans have got faith in Antonio Conte and believe he is the man to take them at least up to the fourth place,” he said.
“And because Conte likes Lukaku so much and he has had him already at Inter for two season, I think the Napoli fans will be just happy to get a Belgian.
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"Of course, Lukaku is six years older than Osimhen and he's not an up-and-coming. He's not a star.
“Obviously, he's almost towards the end of his career, but if you look at the numbers of Lukaku in Serie A compared to the ones of Osimhen , they are very similar. Lukaku has scored 70 Serie A goals in four years, Osimhen just a couple more. Last season, Lukaku has scored 21 times for Roma, a bit less in the league than Osimhen.
“But he seems to be the perfect fit for the way Antonio Conte wants to play. The 3-5-2, Lukaku will be good at holding up. He can also give you the opportunity to play on the counter.
"And ultimately, when it comes to Antonio Conte, it's about having a quick fix, having something that works straight away.
“And we saw it for the way he managed Lukaku at Inter. That solution can obviously work out. So, yeah, it seems like the most likely destination. Conte has convinced Lukaku to refuse other offers.
“AC Milan and the Saudi League tried to contact him earlier. Also, some new Napoli players who know Lukaku well have spoken to him.
"So, really, we're just waiting for Osimhen to move to Paris, for Lukaku to move to the third Italian club since 2019.”
Meanwhile, it appears Osimhen’s exit to PSG has been delayed by the French club trying to negotiate a lower fee, despite Napoli standing firm on the striker’s steep release clause.
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“The distance between the Napoli request and the PSG offer is not huge. Napoli are asking for €130m [£110m], which is exactly the release clause of Osimhen according to the new contract that he signed just a year ago.
"PSG are offering €100m [£84m] plus add-on, but this is almost the worst kept secret in Italy. We all knew Osimhen was going to leave.
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“The decision of Osimhen is to leave. So if PSG can meet the request of Napoli, he will join them, unless Al-Hali in Saudi Arabia comes back with a mega, mega offer.
“But clearly the decision of the player is much more important and he wants to stay in Europe.”