Report: Lukaku becomes Chelsea top earner by £160k-a-week margin, overtakes Kante

Chelsea break wage record to sign Romelu Lukaku

According to The Athletic (Subscription Required) [h/t Daily Mail], Chelsea went on to smash their wage structure to sign Romelu Lukaku. The Blues’ newest asset will earn a staggering £450,000-a-week which is £160,000 higher than the next highest earner N’Golo Kante.

Chelsea really wanted to sign a new striker over the summer. The Timo Werner experiment did not pay off a lot last season as Chelsea really struggled to get the goals flowing. It came to the point where Kai Havertz had to be installed at a false nine just to get something going. The move did work wonders but the need for a striker was evident.

Hence Chelsea turned their attention to Lukaku. The Blues are not unfamiliar with the Belgian. He spent three years at the club in the last decade before leaving for Everton. Lukaku’s return has not come cheap for Chelsea as they had to shatter their previous transfer record and shelled out £98million.

Not only is Lukaku’s transfer fee rather high, but Chelsea will also be making him their top earner by quite a distance. Taking all the bonuses and other factors into account, Lukaku will earn a sizable £450,000-a-week. The next and previous highest earner is N’Golo Kante who is on £290,000-a-week. Lukaku will hold another record as the Premier League’s highest earner ahead of Kevin De Bruyne who earns £385,000-a-week.

More Chelsea News

• Chelsea to miss out on £34million windfall as AC Milan end Hakim Ziyech pursuit
• Chelsea ace Antonio Rudiger contract situation being monitored by PSG and Real Madrid
• Transfer News: Jules Kounde could cost Chelsea £88m

Chelsea will need Lukaku to go all guns blazing right from the start. Given the outlay on him, it is perhaps normal to expect the same. However, given the form he is in, it shouldn’t be of much concern to anyone at Chelsea.