Chelsea agree club-record €115m Lukaku deal

Chelsea have agreed in principle a club-record deal worth €115m to re-sign striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, Sky Sports reported.

The paperwork is now with club lawyers and once that is formalised, Lukaku will undergo a medical and sign a five-year contract.

Lukaku, 28, left Chelsea in 2014 after making just 15 appearances there following his arrival at Stamford Bridge from Anderlecht in 2011.

The Blues have pursued the Belgian attacker across the summer amid the Serie A champions' need to offload players amid rising debts.

Now, Thomas Tuchel's side look to have secured their target, with the forward poised to return to the Champions League holders a decade on from his first arrival in west London.

Lukau's move to Chelsea - in a switch that will make him the seventh-most expensive transfer of all-time - will see him become the latest face to depart San Siro in the wake of title-winning coach Antonio Conte and Achraf Hakimi.

A small proportion of the fee will be tied up in add-ons, with final details to be formalised across the weekend, as Conte's successor Simone Inzaghi continues to complete his preparations for the Nerazzurri's Scudetto defence.

The former Anderlecht graduate will become the first major outfield signing of Chelsea's summer, following goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli's arrival on a free transfer from neighbours Fulham.

One of the most prolific strikers in Europe, Lukaku scored 87 goals in 166 games for Everton between 2014 and 2017 and found the net 42 times in 96 appearances during his two years at Manchester United before signing for Inter in 2019.

He scored 24 goals in Serie A last season, helping Inter to their first Scudetto in 11 years as the club put an end to Juventus' nine-year reign as Italian top-flight champions.

Now, his career path looks to have come full circle, and brings him back to where he began his continental adventure - and directly into the heart of a Blues side determined to prove their unlikely Champions League triumph last term was no fluke.