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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Giuseppe Muro

Chelsea to green-light Romelu Lukaku loan exit to Inter as transfer business kicks into gear

Chelsea are ready to give Romelu Lukaku the green light to rejoin Inter on loan.

Lukaku could seal his return to Inter this week in a deal that could kickstart a summer recruitment drive at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are set for a further round of talks with Inter on Monday and are prepared to let Lukaku leave for a loan fee of around £10million.

New owner Todd Boehly initially wanted closer to £20m but is willing to compromise to offload Lukaku a year after he joined Chelsea for £97.5m.

Lukaku endured a miserable first season back at Stamford Bridge and finished the campaign with just eight Premier League goals.

The Belgium striker has made no secret of his love for Inter in the past. He scored 64 goals during two seasons at Inter and won the Serie A title under Antonio Conte in 2020-21.

Once the deal to offload Lukaku is finalised, Chelsea are set to press ahead with a move for Raheem Sterling.

Thomas Tuchel has identified Sterling as one of his top transfer targets as Chelsea decide which attacking players to move for to help fill the void left by Lukaku.

Sterling only has 12 months left on his contract at Manchester City and Pep Guardiola is prepared to sell the England international this summer.

City could demand up to £60million for Sterling but Chelsea are increasingly confident of securing a deal for the 27-year-old.

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