Chelsea Completes The Re-Signing Of Romelu Lukaku In A Club Record Fee From Inter Milan.

Chelsea have completed the re-signing of  Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan in a club-record deal worth £97.5million.

The transfer which was confirmed at the clubs website on Thursday evening, ended their long pursuit of a new striker to spearhead the attack next season.

Manager Thomas Tuchel had made a new top striker his number one transfer priority this summer after Timo Werner had failed to excel in that position the previous season.

The Blues were unable to secure their number one target Erling Haaland away from Borussia Dortmund, which saw them turn to Lukaku despite Inter being very reluctant to sell their star man which they got from Man United in 2019.

He almost re-joined Chelsea in 2017, though eventually opted to join Manchester United in a £75m deal instead ,and right now the Red Devils are set to earn around £4m from his latest transfer due to a sell-on clause.

Lukaku had first moved to Stamford Bridge as a teenager in 2011 from Belgian side Anderlecht, enjoying two strong loans at West Brom and Everton before being permanently sold to Everton after just three years.

The 28-year-old completed the first part of his medical in Milan on Monday before flying to west London to pen to paper on a five-year contract which makes him the highest-paid player at the club, earning £200,000 per week after tax.

 

The £97.5m transfer fee falls just short of the £100m Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish earlier this month, and also surpasses the previous club-record fee of £75.8m Chelsea paid Bayer Leverkusen to sign Kai Havertz last summer.

On the forward’s arrival, Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: 

"Romelu Lukaku is quite simply one of the world’s best strikers and goalscorers.

"We are absolutely delighted to be bringing him back to the club he loves, and are excited to be adding his talent to our Champions League-winning squad.

"We are of course looking to build on last season’s success, and Lukaku will play a big role in achieving our targets.

"I’m sure all Chelsea fans will join me in saying welcome home, Romelu!"

According to reports, Lukaku's return to Chelsea is his fifth major transfer of his career, and means the striker has made transfer history with his transfer fees making him the most expensive player in history in terms of accumulated transfer fees, with teams having spent £293.5m on him across the last decade – eclipsing the £246.6m spent on second-placed Neymar.

 "I'm happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club," Lukaku told the club's website. "It's been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I'm coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.

"The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.

Lukaku enjoyed a superb campaign last season, netting 24 goals in 33 Serie A appearances, only Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo managed more, as he helped Antonio Cinte's Inter Milan to the Scudetto.

He made 96 appearances in total across all competitions, scoring 64 goals in his two-seasons stay at Inter.