Transfer News: Chelsea eyeing swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku and Inter Milan
According to Evening Standard (h/t Football.London), Chelsea are looking to negotiate a swap deal with Inter Milan to send Romelu Lukaku one way in exchange for players from the Italian club.
Lukaku joined Chelsea from Inter Milan back in the summer in a move that generated a lot of hype amongst the Blues faithful. However, things have not panned out as planned in the Belgian’s second outing at Stamford Bridge with the striker looking like a pale shadow of his former shelf.
The 29-year-old target man has played 44 times for Thomas Tuchel’s team this season, scoring 15 goals and providing two assists across all competitions. Whilst these numbers don’t seem very bad at first glance, the cracks begin to appear when we dig deeper.
With things having not worked out as expected, Lukaku has been linked with a return to Inter Milan in the summer. However, considering the economics involved in the deal, the Blues are looking to negotiate a swap deal for the forward with Lautaro Martinez, Alessandro Bastoni and Milan Skriniar being the names that are floated around.
Does it make sense?
It is absolutely no secret that the homecoming of Romelu Lukaku has not played out as first expected with the Belgian struggling to find his shooting boots on a regular basis.
Although it may be a tad too early for Chelsea to sell a player of the Belgian’s ability, if Lukaku indeed wants to leave, then it makes sense for the Blues to negotiate a deal for him. Working out a deal where they get central defenders in exchange for Lukaku makes sense.
Both Alessandro Bastoni and Milan Skriniar have been on the Blues’ radar for quite some time now and it comes as no surprise that these players are being linked in the Lukaku deal. Chelsea have a defensive crisis to solve for next season and the duo could be the answer.
With Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger leaving, the Blues are extremely short of options at centre-back. Swapping a striker for two centre-backs would be the perfect solution for the Blues in the current scenario.
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If Lukaku leaves, Chelsea could trust Armando Broja to fill the void left by the Belgian. In that way, the Blues will be able to offload a misfiring player, get two much-needed centre-backs in return and also have an internal replacement to take over as striker. It seems like the perfect win-win situation for all parties involved.
