Champions League the deal-breaker for Chelsea ace with 12 goals in 19 games
Things haven’t really gone according to plan for Chelsea and their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, so far this season, although the stroke of luck they received in their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Newcastle on Tuesday night might just be the moment that their season turns around.
The Argentinian has struggled to get a tune out of an expensively assembled group of players for the most part in 2023/24, much like Graham Potter and Frank Lampard before him in 2022/23.
It doesn’t seem to have mattered how much money owner Todd Boehly has thrown at the issue, the Blues haven’t really had a coherent style of play to this point.
Disjointed associative play between defence, midfield and attack has seen just the sort of results that you might expect.
One player that hasn’t struggled this season, however, is Chelsea loanee, Romelu Lukaku, with Football Italia noting that he’s already scored 12 goals in 19 games on loan at Roma.
It’s clear how well suited the Belgian is to life in Serie A, as he had a similarly successful spell at Internazionale.
A switch to the Giallorossi would evidently suit all parties, however, as Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia) note, only if Roma qualify for next season’s Champions League will they be able to afford the striker.
That’s because Chelsea are apparently asking for €42m if Roma want to buy Lukaku permanently, whilst it’s also reported that Saudi clubs are willing to offer a huge €30m per year pay packet if they can tempt him to the Pro League.
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