Chelsea's summer transfer window could be about to properly get underway with Romelu Lukaku understood to be close to sealing a loan move to Inter Milan. The Italian club believe they are close to sealing a deal to re-sign the 29-year-old, who left the San Siro to join the Blues last summer for £97.5million.
Lukaku is expected to re-join Inter this week after a poor season back in England for Chelsea. Off-the-field interviews did not help the Belgian, whose performances on the pitch were also sub-par.
A €10million (£8.6million) loan fee, plus add-ons, looks likely to be the amount paid by Inter to land the Belgium international. Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta said: "We're trying to sign Lukaku and [Paulo] Dybala, it depends on the financial situation too."
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If, or what looks more like when, the deal is announced, this could be the trigger for Chelsea's summer to really begin in terms of incomings at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have a number of attacking targets on their list as Thomas Tuchel looks to completely revamp his squad in time for next season.
Raheem Sterling and Ousmane Dembele remain top targets for the club as they try and reduce the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City. Richarlison is another name high on Chelsea's list, football.london understands, with Tuchel a big fan of the Brazil international, who has two years remaining on his contract with Everton.
The centre of defence is also high on the agenda at Stamford Bridge. With Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen both leaving on free transfers, Chelsea need to act in the summer transfer window to replace the defenders.
Levi Colwill could return to the club and save them some money if Tuchel feels like the 19-year-old defender is ready. However, Jules Kounde remains a big target, with the Blues confident of wrapping up a deal for the Sevilla centre-back. The likes of Josko Gvardiol, Milan Skriniar, Pau Torres, Matthijs de Ligt and Jose Gimenez have all been watched by Chelsea as well.
There could still be plenty of outgoings at the Bridge as well. Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ross Barkley, Jorginho, Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner all continue to be linked with moves away from the west London club.
