Inter Milan president Steven Zhang has refused to reveal whether Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku will remain at the club next season.
The Serie A outfit secured the deal of the century last summer, signing Lukaku on loan just one year after offloading him for £90 million. A hamstring injury scuppered most of the first half of his 2022/23 campaign, but the Belgian recovered and rediscovered the golden touch before the Champions League final.
However, Lukaku created the headlines for all the wrong reasons on the big occasion for blundering several big opportunities.
The Belgian striker came on as a substitute during the Italian club’s Champions League final loss to Manchester City on Saturday evening in Istanbul. He also missed a crucial chance to hand the Italian club an equalizer during the match.
First, he blocked Roberto Dimarco’s shot inside the penalty area, which looked to be destined for the back of the net, and then failed to score with a header from a point-blank range towards the end of the game. Inter ultimately fell to a 1-0 defeat, with Rodri scoring the winner in the 69th minute.
There have been suggestions that Lukaku could be given another chance at Stamford Bridge by Mauricio Pochettino. With Todd Boehly unlikely to splash as much cash as in recent windows, reintroducing the 30-year-old would provide Chelsea with a cheaper alternative to try and fix their goalscoring woes.
Lukaku remains popular at Inter and has bridges to fix in West London following his public bust-up with former boss Thomas Tuchel. Speaking after their Champions League defeat, Inter Milan President Zhang placed the ball in Chelsea’s court regarding the future of Lukaku.
He said;
“Romelu loves Inter, that’s very clear. He’s a great guy but he’s under contract at Chelsea. We have to wait and speak to Chelsea to make Lukaku’s future clear.”
The 30-year-old forward had an underwhelming loan spell at the Italian club this season, scoring just 14 goals in 37 appearances for the club. He did also provide seven assists, though, and enjoyed a hot streak towards the end of the campaign after recovering from injury.
