da wazamba： Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku is not in their plans for next season and the 29-year-old does not want to return from Inter Milan at the end of his loan.
What has happened with Romelu Lukaku?
da roleta： The Belgian striker returned to Inter after Chelsea bought him from the Italian giants back in the summer of 2021 for an extraordinary fee.
However, having struggled to find his feet in the Premier League over the 2021/22 campaign, Inter took the striker back on loan for this season.
Having only spent one season actually at Stamford Bridge following his return, the striker will return in the summer with three years remaining on his deal.
And speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has claimed the Belgian is neither in the plans of the Londoners for next season nor is keen to return:
"I wanted to clarify after speaking also to Inter sources, what they mean is that the agreement is a straight loan. So Inter have no buy option and it's normal that Romelu Lukaku will go back to Chelsea.
"They know that the player wants to stay. Romelu Lukaku's priority will be to stay at Inter at least for one more season on loan. And so at the end of the season, Inter will decide internally how to proceed.
"From what I understand, Chelsea are not planning for the next season with Romelu Lukaku as a striker."
Could Lukaku rediscover his form at Chelsea?
Lukaku's return to the Bridge back in 2021 actually got off to a promising start which saw him find the back of the net three times in his opening three Premier League games (via Transfermarkt).
And his form failed to really pick up from there with his fourth goal in the Premier League coming all the way on Boxing Day.
What was interesting about his return to Chelsea was that all of his league goals came in clusters of games and then he endured long barren runs without scoring.
This season, with Inter, has not been any better for the Belgian with his season being heavily hindered by injuries which has seen him only make eight starts in Serie A (via Transfermarkt).
Perhaps there is some cause for optimism that he has provided two goals in his last four league games but there has to be question marks as to whether any Premier League side would look to him as a potential option this summer.
And given his last couple of seasons, it would be difficult to imagine any of the bigger sides viewing him as an option.
What will be interesting is to see whether Inter are willing to put their trust in him going forward with Chelsea likely to be looking to reclaim some of the money they spent on him.
Given the Blues are currently without an out-and-out striker in their starting XI, it is a damning indictment of where the Belgian's career currently is.