July 29, (THEWILL) – The bid of UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea FC to bring in a class A striker has driven their summer transfer business but remains unfulfilled. This has caused team owner Roman Abramovich to reportedly send his son to Milan in an audacious attempt to bring Inter striker Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge.
So far, Chelsea’s push to convince Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund to release their firm grip on their forward Erling Haaland for a hefty £150m fee has been met with continued resistance from the German side.
The renowned stubbornness of the Bundesliga side, that Manchester United learnt in trying to get Jadon Sancho, was again evident as Dortmund publicly stressed that they will not be selling the 20-year-old this summer for any price.
The Blues have had to seek other options and that was where Lukaku came into the picture and this time, Abramovich is personally interested in the pursuit of bringing in a world-class striker this summer. There is no better evidence than the Russian sending his son to Milan to make it work.
A total of about £110m has been set aside by the London side in their chase of Lukaku. It is money that will mean a lot for the Italian club and their cash-strapped management that forced out title-winning manager Antonio Conte at the end of last season.
Although the Blues are confident that Inter would sell for that amount, the problem is that Lukaku himself is not particularly keen on the move having become comfortable with the circumstances he has found himself in in Serie A. He still holds on to his belief that he was disrespected in England and has preferred life in Italy,
The fact that the striker is not desperate to leave life in Serie A just yet may be the impediment facing Chelsea’s pursuit of Lukaku as personal terms will be heavily dependent on the player’s favourable consideration of the move. And, Lukaku has firmly rejected Chelsea’s advances.
Every chance he has got since the stories began circulating that he was on Chelsea’s radar, the forward has knocked the Blues, stressing to Inter again last week that he will not be leaving the club.
It leaves Chelsea in a tough corner and it is not certain what Abramovich’s son will accomplish face-to-face in the trip to Milan. It might profit them to seek options that exist elsewhere due to Lukaku’s insistence on remaining put in Inter.
They could return to convince Dortmund to reconsider and there is a slim chance it could work as the German side could be convinced to sell for the right price, but that figure could end up being too high even for the deep pockets of the Russian owner.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
