Napoli have signed Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea for £30m.
Napoli’s move for 31-year-old Lukaku was driven by their manager, Antonio Conte, under whom the Belgian enjoyed two prolific seasons at Inter Milan from 2019 to 2021.
The forward rejoined Chelsea in 2021 for £97.5 million but has spent the past two seasons on loan in Italy, first back at Inter Milan and then back at Roma.
Lukaku scored 24 league goals under Conte in 2021 and won the Serie A title, with his performances prompting Chelsea’s decision to recruit him.
Selling the Belgian, who has not played for Chelsea since May 2022, would see him earn £325,000 a week.
Conte told his pre-match press conference that Lukaku could make his Napoli debut against Parma on Saturday (19:45 BST).
When Lukaku left, Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin also moved to the Italian Serie A and signed a three-year contract with Empoli.
Chelsea and Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli are both in talks to sign 25-year-old Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, which would help Napoli offset their spending.
Chelsea were a disaster—analysis
Lukaku’s time at Chelsea was a disaster as he failed to deliver on his original £100m investment during the Abramovich era.
Chelsea’s 2021 statement read: “Lukaku, one of the most prolific forwards in European football, returns to the club he supported as a youth and where he was on our books between 2011 and 2014 to complete an unfinished business. career.
Regardless, the Belgium international feels like the missing piece of the puzzle in Thomas Tuchel’s diligent defensive side, which has won the Champions League but lacks real firepower up front.
However, dissatisfaction with game time following an ankle injury in December 2021 led him to give an unsanctioned interview to Sky Italia, where he said he believed the top three teams in the world were “Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich” and revealed it was “difficult to accept” his departure from Inter Milan, questioning Tuchel’s system and saying he was “not happy.”.
Lukaku will apologize through the club after former director Marina Granovskaia and manager Tuchel intervened.
But the club’s supporters did their damage, and his form declined after losing support.
From that summer on, Lukaku wanted to leave, and Chelsea’s new owners were more than happy to oblige, but they struggled to sell him, resulting in him being loaned back to Inter Milan and then to Roma.
The Blues recouped £15m of the loan fee and a further £30m by selling the striker to Napoli, but history will remember Lukaku’s time at Chelsea as a complete waste of time and money.
