Romelu Lukaku

[Il Drago]

It's still a bit unclear is it 100m€ + Alonso offer or 100m€ valued offer including Alonso. Romano has been notoriously a bit unclear with these sometimes (at least for my liking).

Whatever is going to happen, decisions needs to be done during this week. If Lukaku ends up being open for the sale, Marotta needs to contact Fiorentina immediately for Vlahovic. We also need to basically have the replacement lined up before we officially sell Lukaku.

My gut feeling is Lukaku isn't having any of this. Talks of the 15m€ salary offer are probably total BS. I mean that's probably gross and not net, because 15m€ net equals £450k gross week wage. No one at Chelsea makes anywhere close to that, Kante makes £300k.

Yeah. Everyone else from Sky claims the offer is 100m plus Alonso so i choose to believe them. I still consider the offer insufficient. If they want to involve a player in the deal then they should offer Reece James, Jorginho or at least Werner. Else, they need to raise the amount of cash. They need to cut the crap by offering deadwood for Lukaku.

I feel differently. Selling Hakimi was a short-sighted, idiotic decision that this club will regret for the next 20 years until they find the next Achraf Hakimi who they'll sell way too quickly ('tis the Circle of Life™), but whatever the case may be, that decision has happened and we aren't going to be able to get him back from Paris now. If we're getting 9-digit offers for Lukaku, we'd be fucking idiots to not try and sell him at that price. He's 28 years old and never going to be worth this much on the market ever again, and we have no idea whether he'll ever find 2019-'21 form again with Conte gone. Obviously you can't sufficiently force him out if he doesn't want to leave, but this is a move I'd have no problem making. It's the kind of move that there should've been just enough patience on as to not have to force-sell Hakimi so fucking quickly in the first place. We always knew that big offers would eventually be floated out there for Lukaku or Lautaro alike.

I agree. Apart from the fact Suning desperately needed money, it made no sense, either financially or sporting, to sell Hakimi for 60m plus bonuses.

On the other hand, selling Lukaku for over 100m cash makes perfect sense from a financial point of view. He's 28, he's coming from a great season with Inter winning Serie A, he had a decent Euro, the coach who made him the focal point of his game plan is gone, Chelsea are desperate for a forward and they have no better options. His value is at its highest level. For Lukaku, it's now or never. Either you sell him now or you choose to stick with him for many years to come.

But from a sporting point of view selling Lukaku would be a huge risk. We have already lost Hakimi, Eriksen and there's lost of uncertainty around Perisic, Brozovic and Lautaro. If we also agreed to sell Lukaku, there's a chance we'll have lost 6 players from last season starting lineup in a year from now. That's basically a rebuild. And i don't see options out there who would give guarantees Lukaku could be properly replaced. We aren't getting Haaland or Lewandowski. Our realistic options are players like Vlahovic, Belotti, Zapata, David, Thuram, Isak. All of them are gambles. Gamble on the coach, gamble on Hakimi replacement, gamble on Lukaku replacement. Too many gambles for the new season.

 

[ElDuccio]

150 minimum and we can talk. But only if we can make something good with this money..60M for Vhalovic is a waste, for example.

 

[CafeCordoba]

I think Inter starts to push the idea of a sale to Pastorello (not directly to Lukaku) when we receive like 150m€ offer. Something which is clearly overblown money. Of course 130m€ is a lot too but 150m€ would be something totally insane, and we are at around 100m€ at the moment. Club do not want to let Lukaku go because it will jeopardize next season, that we all have to agree. That's why the money needs to be A LOT more than what sounds a fair money for Lukaku.

Before any overblown offer, we will probably just reject anything coming from Chelsea. They also need to understand time is a valuable asset in this month so if they really want Lukaku, they need to act fast.

 

[diamen]

150 minimum and we can talk. But only if we can make something good with this money..60M for Vhalovic is a waste, for example.

why? Vlahović seems to be the only good realistic replacement. The kid is good and he can explode like Chiesa last season.

 

[Il Drago]

why? Vlahović seems to be the only good realistic replacement. The kid is good and he can explode like Chiesa last season.

Vlahovic just had his first good season of his career at Fiorentina. He could be the next great Serie A forward or he could be the next Piatek or Schick. I would like to watch him for one more season at Fiorentina before making a move for him.

 

[CafeCordoba]

If we sold Lukaku, I'd definitely take the risk with Vlahovic. Eye-test for me tells he's a real deal.

After all, there aren't options too many options in the market. Actually none, which would be even close to Lukaku. Zapata? Belotti? Muriel? I could take one of them in addition to Vlahovic but not as the replacement for Lukaku.

 

[diamen]

Vlahovic just had his first good season of his career at Fiorentina. He could be the next great Serie A forward or he could be the next Piatek or Schick. I would like to watch him for one more season at Fiorentina before making a move for him.

he is a gamble, but we have two choices. Take Belotti and Zapata who provide certain level, but won't be world beaters or take Vlahović and take the risk. The best approach would be to take Vlahović and one experienced striker, but I have no idea who it could be.
I'm wondering if Marotta & Ausilio are considering strikers outside Italy.

 

[ElDuccio]

why? Vlahović seems to be the only good realistic replacement. The kid is good and he can explode like Chiesa last season.

piatek was also amazing at genoa.. yeah someone will say that it's not the same. But i don't know, i don't rate him that high. Lautaro was good this season (not saying amazing, but anyway good), he's a 15+ goal scorer in a top club, not Fiorentina. But nobody want's him for more then 50M apparently. So compared to him and other strikers, for me Vhalovic should cost 40M, not more.

 

[ElDuccio]

he is a gamble, but we have two choices. Take Belotti and Zapata who provide certain level, but won't be world beaters or take Vlahović and take the risk. The best approach would be to take Vlahović and one experienced striker, but I have no idea who it could be.
I'm wondering if Marotta & Ausilio are considering strikers outside Italy.

or just not sell Lukaku before spending 150 only to get Dummfries and Vhlalovic

 

[diamen]

or just not sell Lukaku before spending 150 only to get Dummfries and Vhlalovic

I'm writing about the scenarios when Lukaku is sold, but I would prefer to keep him ofc.

 

[Strale]

I would be really interested in what price tag will Fiorentina slap on Vlahovic. I am not so sure it will be lower than what ManUtd asked for Lukaku.

He didn't do nearly enough to warrant that kind of price, but Fiorentina still have enough to work with thanks to all the hype around him.

 

[Il Drago]

I would be really interested in what price tag will Fiorentina slap on Vlahovic. I am not so sure it will be lower than what ManUtd asked for Lukaku.

He didn't do nearly enough to warrant that kind of price, but Fiorentina still have enough to work with thanks to all the hype around him.

They'll probably ask for around 60m. We shouldn't offer anything more than 25-30m. The guy has only one good season in his career and his contract expires in 2023. There are many rumours about an extension but nothing official yet.

 

[PHM1605]

or just not sell Lukaku before spending 150 only to get Dummfries and Vhlalovic

You obviously haven't imagined how gigantic 150m is. Vlahovic and Dumfries don't even cost half.

We most likely wouldn't find a better player than Lukaku, individually. But as a team Marotta would make us much stronger. Pjanic wasn't better than Pogba either but with him+Higuain (their top scorer), Jube reached CL final the following season.

 

[Il Drago]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1422473519800201226

 

[William]

The owners want to sell though…

 

[NimAraya]

This is the last chance Inter can get big money from Lukaku. Any offer around 120-130m, Inter should take it.

Yeah, it's pretty late, but the offer would be too good to refuse. Im not counting on winning the Scudetto next season, even with Lukaku. Reaching the CL would be enough for me and with smart business we can achieve that, even if Lukaku's replacement isn't named Vlahovic.

 

[Thoyhoy]

It's over guys. He's gone. Will never forgive Suning for dismantling the team like this.

 

[CafeCordoba]

Di Marzio reports we've rejected new offer in the morning of 110m€ and Chelsea is ready to offer 120m€.

 

[Gaindé]

Ok, correct me if I'm wrong. I don't want to go conspiration mode but if the reports that Lukaku is absolutely opposed to a move to Chelsea are true, why the hell are they still trying? Who would sign a player that basically says I don't want to play for your club?
I feel like maybe Zhang and Marotta may have let him know that we would sell him and he opened up to the possibility of a move. Otherwise why would Chelsea be increasing their offer?

It's so freaking late in the transfer window, we're gonna start Satriano and Pinamonti against Genoa

 

[Verathia]

If we sell him this late, it is nothing short of sabotage. I will seriously considering pausing my fandom till a leadership change.