Saudi Beckons to Lukaku As Juventus Cool Interest in Chelsea Striker

Saudi Beckons to Lukaku As Juventus Cool Interest in Chelsea Striker

Elijah Odetokun
updated at July 20, 2023 at 12:25 PM
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  • Romelu Lukaku could be forced to head to Saudi Arabia as his next destination
  • Juventus have reportedly deemed him no longer a priority, with only Max Allegri pushing for a deal for him
  • He secretly tried to re-establish contact with Inter Milan but was turned down

Romelu Lukaku's hands are tied, and his legs could wobble towards Saudi Arabia to find his next club after recent developments in his ongoing transfer saga.

Chelsea are ready to let him off their books for a cut price of €40 million, despite signing him for €115 million two years ago. He has been a focal point of chaos at the club just four months into his stay.

Romelu Lukaku, Inter Milan, AC Monza, Italian Serie A, San Siro.
Romelu Lukaku has only Saudi Arabia left as his next destination after Juventus reported cool transfer interest in him. Photo by Jonathan Moscrop.
Source: Getty Images

Inter were willing to re-sign him after he spent last season on loan with them. They agreed a fee with Chelsea, but then Lukaku went incommunicado, forcing Nerazzurri to pull out of the deal.

Mauricio Pochettino then confirmed that Lukaku's Chelsea career is over, leaving Juventus and Saudi Arabia as the options left.

Juventus cool interest in Lukaku

According to the front pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper via Forza Juve, the Old Lady no longer consider the Belgian a priority, as it was only head coach, Massimiliano Allegri who was pushing for him initially.

The Bianconeri also had a condition to go ahead with his signing, and that was they would need to get rid of Serbian striker, Dusan Vlahovic, who is a target for Paris Saint-Germain.

The same newspaper edition via Football Italia claimed that Lukaku tried to re-establish contact with Inter, who quickly turned him down as they have set their sights on other options, including Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid and Arsenal youngster, Folarin Balogun.

The decision of the blue and black side of Milan was probably made easy after their ultras slammed Lukaku publicly with a statement branding him as a 'traitor' and 'not a real man'.

TuttoSport reported that the player's lawyer, Sebastian Ledure was willing to accept Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal's offer, but the former Manchester United striker was waiting on Juve.

Juve fans protest against Lukaku

Sports Brief reported that it would be difficult for Juve to proceed with signing Lukaku after their fans protested against him outside of the club's medical facilities in Turin.

Juventini opposed the idea of the striker and would rather keep Vlahovic, whose potential destination, PSG, also had their ultras threaten him over a past incident.

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
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