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Romelu Lukaku is reportedly edging closer to a permanent Stamford Bridge exit as the striker has been heavily linked with a return to Serie A with Napoli, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reports.
Despite being Chelsea’s record signing at £97.5m when he returned to west London in 2021, the Belgian quickly lost favour with supporters following an interview with Sky Sports in which he reported being unhappy with then manager Thomas Tuchel’s tactics.
He was dropped from the squad and subsequently sent on loan to Inter Milan, and then to Roma the following season.
Lukaku is now looking to add another Serie A stint to his resume as links to Napoli solidify, while the Blues are reportedly looking to line up a replacement for Victor Osimhen, who is set to leave after a successful three seasons in Tuscany.
Lukaku, who failed to score in Belgium’s underwhelming Euro 2024 run, is reportedly prepared to take a pay cut as he looks to reunite with former manager Antonio Conte.
Also set to leave the club is centre-back Malang Sarr, reportedly returning to his native France with Lens. Signed on a free transfer in 2020, Sarr has made just eight appearances for Chelsea and spent much of last season training with the U21 squad following underwhelming loan spells at Porto and Monaco.
Chelsea are not just working on sales. The club are also looking to bring in a striker to challenge Nicolas Jackson and have supposedly identified Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins as a target. Though Villa regard the player as untouchable, Chelea are persisting, with an asking price allegedly set at £80 million. Watkins finished fourth in the Premier League Golden Boot race last season with 19 goals and scored a late winner in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 to send England to the final, although a deal is probably unlikely.
As is tradition since the Clearlake takeover, Chelsea are once again dealing in South American talent, now eyeing up Gabriel Mec and Aaron Anselmino. Mec, born in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, plays as an attacking midfielder for Gremio. The player is highly rated in Brazilian circles but is yet to make a senior professional appearance, and Chelsea are confident of completing the deal, reports Romano. He would join the huge crop of expensive yet unproven South American talent waiting in the wings at Chelsea, including Willian Estevao, Kendry Paez, and Andrey Santos.
Chelsea are also in talks with Boca Juniors to sign 19-year-old defender Anselmino, who made five appearances in 2023/24, scoring one goal and keeping four clean sheets before missing nearly two months through injury. While a move for young Atlanta left-back Caleb Wiley is already complete.
Despite signing two keepers in Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic last summer, Chelsea have added a goalkeeper to the summer shopping list. This will likely doom Petrovic to an early exit from west London, whether permanent or on loan. Kepa Arrizabalaga, who spent last season on loan at Real Madrid, is also in the shop window, with interest from Saudi side Al Ittihad, though he is hoping to fight for his place at Los Blancos.
