Lukaku unwilling to return to Chelsea after Inter Loan

Romelu Lukaku at Inter during the 2022/23 season

Lukaku unwilling to return to Chelsea after Inter Loan

Ayoola Kelechi 18:19 - 05.06.2023

Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku is reportedly prefers staying in Italy with Inter to returning to England with Chelsea

Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukau is reportedly unwilling to return to the club when his current loan deal at Inter expires at the end of the season.

Lukaku recovering from early season blues

Lukaku’s loan spell at Inter in the 2022/23 season started poorly with the Belgian forward struggling for fitness after suffering an Achilles injury at the start of the season.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.co.ke/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

The 30-year-old forward suffered through the World Cup period and only found his fitness at the end of the season.

Since he returned to full fitness, Lukaku has been an important part of the Inter team, helping them to the UEFA Champions League final, as well as victory in the Coppa Italia and qualification for next season’s UCL group stage.

Lukaku favours Inter stay over Chelsea return

At some point in the season, with Lukaku struggling, Inter were reportedly willing to go as far as terminating the loan agreement early, but the Belgian has fully turned the opinion of the Inter technical staff and fans around.

In the last 10 games in all competitions, Lukaku has scored five times and assisted four more goals for teammates as his resurgence under Simone Inzaghi continues.

Inter’s Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku is currently at Inter on loan from Chelsea

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Lukaku wants to continue the progress he is making, and has communicated to both the Inter directors and new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino that he would prefer to stay with Inter than return to Chelsea.

The Blues are yet to recoup the €113 million fee that was paid to Inter for the Belgian in the first place, and with the Nerazzurri in dire financial straits, it is unlikely that they will be able to  afford a deal for Lukaku leaving a potential move for Lukaku in limbo.

Tags: