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Chelsea are not pleased with the Lukaku-Vlahović swap deal

Isha Mohan
Isha Mohan

Playing for 90

ATATURK OLYMPIC STADIUM, ISTANBUL, TURKEY - 2023/06/10: Romelu Lukaku of FC Internazionale reacts during the UEFA Champions League final football match between Manchester City FC and FC Internazionale. Manchester City FC won 1-0 over FC Internazionale. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Lukaku at Chelsea
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 19: Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on May 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images )

Chelsea rejects the swap-deal offer from Juventus

Juventus had tried to persuade the Blues to agree to a swap deal involving their forward, Romelu Lukaku, who is currently on loan at Inter Milan.

This effort came in response to Chelsea’s growing interest in, Dusan Vlahović. The Italian team hoped to avoid Chelsea’s set fee of 40 million, but the Blues weren’t convinced as per Nizaar Kinsella.

The Blues appear to be actively pursuing a distinct and permanent offer for Lukaku, which could come from European teams by August or teams in Saudi Arabia by September.

Clash of interests from Juventus fans

While Juventus are striving to secure the funds to acquire Lukaku, the fans have shown strong opposition to the deal. In a recent incident, certain fans took to the pitch at the Allianz Stadium during a training match with Juventus Next Gen, using this action as a protest against the decision.

This situation might not bode well for the Italian side. As for Chelsea, Pochettino has no intentions of incorporating him into the team, a stance that was evident from Lukaku not being assigned a squad number in the club’s published list. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that this decision was mutual, involving both Lukaku and the manager.

Interests from Saudi

Earlier in the transfer window, Lukaku received an offer from Al-Hilal worth approximately €45 million. The Saudi side has experienced arrivals from Chelsea, including Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, and N’Golo Kante. Nevertheless, the Belgian striker declined the offer, as he was solely interested in effecting a permanent transfer to Inter Milan at that time.

However, Chelsea was displeased with the notion of loaning him out for another season. The club is resolute in either securing the player’s permanent departure or having him feature for the Blues under Pochettino’s management.

Isha Mohan

Isha Mohan

Isha is a contributor for The Pride of London and has previously contributed at Playing for 90, where she had focused a lot on Chelsea and Beyond the Flag for Formula One-related pieces. She covers breaking news and transfer market-related content as done previously for Playing for 90 and other sites that she’s worked for since 2022 and also will be experimenting with postgame analysis, both team- and player-specific, for The Pride of London. She also follows motorsport—Formula One and MotoGP—and is a final-year media production student hoping to break into sports journalism.