Chelsea set for ‘massive’ blow after ‘100%’ Romelu Lukaku source reveal – pundit
Noel Whelan has claimed Chelsea will be forced to take a financial hit in order to get wantaway striker Romelu Lukaku out of the club.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the 28-year-old’s signing has been a “really bad bit of business”.
This site revealed on Sunday (20 March) that £97million star Lukaku wants to quit Chelsea this summer.
A Blues source told Football Insider that the Belgian is “not happy” and is eyeing the exit just seven months after his arrival.
Lukaku gave a notorious Sky Italy interview earlier this year (1 January) in which he claimed he would have “100%” stayed at Inter Milan if he had been offered a new deal.
When asked if Chelsea will have to take a financial hit to get the striker out of Stamford Bridge, Whelan told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “Most probably, yeah.
“When you compare what they paid for him to what they’ve got from him this season – it’s a massive difference. It’s been a really bad bit of business.
“He started well but after that it’s just been drama after drama. It doesn’t seem like the relationship between player and club is a particularly harmonious one.
“Tuchel has got Kai Havertz playing well upfront now, scoring goals – he seems like his first choice.
“They need to make a deal happen because you can’t have players like that in the dressing room, otherwise this same situation will happen time and time again.”
Lukaku has scored 12 goals in 34 games since making the move to Stamford Bridge last summer (2021).
Kai Havertz has been preferred to the Belgian in recent weeks – with the German scoring four goals in his last three league games.
In other news, Chelsea star reaches agreement in principle on summer exit.