This is a soap opera that animates the press in Italy and Belgium. The story is even moving hour by hour as of this writing. Romelu Lukaku managed to alienate Inter, who nevertheless made many efforts to enlist him permanently. All that was needed was to sell André Onana to Manchester United (an agreement should soon be reached) for around €52m to raise all the funds. We also had to agree with the Belgian.
The offer of €35m (plus €5m in bonuses) had been accepted by Chelsea, as explained this morning by the Gazzetta dello Sport. Problem, neither the Belgian nor his agent then responded to the requests of the nerazzurri leaders. In reality, the player and his representative were playing a double game. In the meantime, Juventus stood out by offering a huge salary of €12.5 million per year. Something to think about, especially since an offer has been made to Chelsea for €37.5 million (+€2.5 million in bonuses), subject to selling Dusan Vlahovic by August 4.
The tone rose during the phone call
According to gazzetta, Lukaku ended up contacting Piero Ausilio, the sporting director, very late last night, but the phone call quickly turned tragic. The tone is raised. Inter did not at all appreciate seeing the striker and his lawyer-agent, Sébastien Ledure, playing on several fronts at the same time. Because Mr. Ledure has actually been offering his client everywhere for several weeks: at AC Milan and in England. Aston Villa even made a proposal.
This is already too much for the Lombard club. Betrayed, he simply decided to stop there. Management will inform Chelsea that their offer no longer stands, according to the pink pages newspaper. The 30-year-old striker loses an option and probably a few friendships. It is now Juventus who become the favorite in this case but we remind you, they must sell before. And then we must not forget the Saudi option, as reported Sky Italia. A few weeks ago, however, we revealed that it was not the priority of the native of Antwerp.
