Chelsea have warned Inter they must come closer to their asking price of £40m for striker Romelu Lukaku, 90min understands.
The two clubs have been locked in negotiations over Lukaku for months, with Chelsea knocking back a handful of offers from Inter as they seek to recover as much money as possible from their initial £97.5m investment.
Inter’s attempts to re-sign Lukaku on loan were quickly blocked by Chelsea, who are only entertaining a permanent departure for the wantaway Belgian.
An offer of around £30m has recently been rejected by Chelsea, with sources confirming to 90min that the Blues are pushing Inter to raise their bid by another £10m.
Inter are not blessed with a huge transfer budget and are therefore keen to avoid spending big on Lukaku, although the sale of goalkeeper Andre Onana to Manchester United could offer the Nerazzurri added flexibility in negotiations if it goes through as expected.
Talks between the two clubs are ongoing and are complicated by the fact that Chelsea still owe money to Inter for their initial purchase of Lukaku in the summer of 2021. While that is not expected to get in the way of an agreement, it does add another layer in discussions.
To try and aid the move, Lukaku is prepared to take a significant pay cut. He is focused solely on returning to Inter this summer despite attracting interest from elsewhere.
Juventus have enquired about Lukaku after Chelsea voiced an interest in Bianconeri striker Dusan Vlahovic – one of many names on a shortlist of potential Blues targets – but Lukaku is not interested in joining another Serie A side.
Lukaku has also snubbed the chance to move to Saudi Arabia, who made a renewed effort to convince the striker to head to the Middle East after initially reaching out earlier this summer. Their offer remains on the table but, as it stands, Lukaku does not want to accept as he waits for Inter to reach an agreement.
Source: 90min.com