‘Happy to be back home’: Romelu Lukaku seals return to Chelsea for club-record fee

Steve Douglas08:28, Aug 13, 2021

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Chelsea boss Tuchel understands Abraham’s frustrations

Thomas Tuchel admits he understands Tammy Abraham’s frustration at Chelsea with the England striker set to make way for Romelu Lukaku.

Romelu Lukaku sealed a return to Chelsea on Thursday (Friday NZT) by moving from Inter Milan for a reported US$135 million (NZ$193 million), a record transfer fee for the European champions that made the Belgium striker the seventh most expensive player of all time.

Lukaku is back at the London club where he spent three seasons from 2011, though he was out on loan for two of those years before being sold for £28 million (now NZ$55 million) to Everton.

Now, the 28-year-old striker is one of the world’s best strikers, prompting Chelsea to buy him back for more than three times that fee to make him the second most expensive player in Premier League history.

England midfielder Jack Grealish joined Manchester City from Aston Villa last week for £100 million (NZ$198 million).

Chelsea didn’t disclose the fee in a statement announcing the arrival of Lukaku on a five-year deal.

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“I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club,” Lukaku said.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1425895590550986757&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fworld-game%2F300381770%2Fhappy-to-be-back-home-romelu-lukaku-seals-return-to-chelsea-for-clubrecord-fee&sessionId=b38f5176331c8f98b6fe00c954dfde34f2bba8c1&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1890d59c%3A1627936082797&width=550px

“It’s been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.

“The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.”

Only Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Philippe Coutinho, Joao Felix, Antoine Griezmann and Grealish have commanded a bigger transfer fee than Lukaku.

MARTIN MEISSNER/APRomelu Lukaku scored 47 goals in 72 games for Inter, helping the club win the Serie A title for the first time since 2010.

A striker was regarded as a priority this off-season for Chelsea, who became European champions without having a regular center-forward after Timo Werner underwhelmed following his move from Leipzig.

Werner joined last year as part of Chelsea’s biggest off-season spending spree – nearly US$300 million (NZ$428 million) – since Russian owner Roman Abramovich took charge in 2003 and the club has spent big again to entice Lukaku, who scored 47 goals in 72 appearances in Serie A for Inter in his two seasons in Italy. Inter won the league last season for the first time since 2010. Oval OfficeGet the latest rugby updates, straight to your inboxSubscribe for free

Lukaku joined Inter in 2019 from Manchester United, having failed to settle at Old Trafford after his move from Everton two years earlier for £75 million (then NZ$148 million).

With their finances badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic and an early elimination from the Champions League, Inter has been looking to reduce their wage bill and make a large profit in the off-season transfer window after taking out a loan from an American investment fund.

Lukaku follows right-back Achraf Hakimi, who joined Paris Saint-Germain for 60 million euros (NZ$100 million), out of the door at Inter.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1425887054836031488&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fworld-game%2F300381770%2Fhappy-to-be-back-home-romelu-lukaku-seals-return-to-chelsea-for-clubrecord-fee&sessionId=b38f5176331c8f98b6fe00c954dfde34f2bba8c1&theme=light&widgetsVersion=1890d59c%3A1627936082797&width=550px

Lukaku didn’t score in 15 appearances in his first spell at Chelsea, who he joined a decade ago dreaming of being as successful as club great Didier Drogba. Now he will get that chance at the second attempt.

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“The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A,” he said.

“I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together. Full coverage

“Since I left Chelsea, it’s been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but these experiences made me strong and the challenge is to try to help the team win some more trophies. I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.”

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia described Lukaku as “quite simply one of the world’s best strikers and goalscorers.”

“We are of course looking to build on last season’s success,” she said, “and Lukaku will play a big role in achieving our targets.”https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.474.0_en.html#goog_1067694385Play Video29s

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