Chelsea bagged their first victory of the new Premier League season as they beat Luton Town 3-0 on Friday evening, with a Raheem Sterling brace putting the Blues in a commanding position against the Hatters.
The performance was capped off perfectly with new arrival Nicolas Jackson securing his first goal for the club and the next challenge for Mauricio Pochettino’s side is a game against League One side AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, before they return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest three days later.
Further good news for the club is that one of their most expensive players appears to finally be a big step closer to securing a move away from the club as 90min reports that wantaway striker Romelu Lukaku has agreed to take a pay-cut in order to finalize a loan move to Italian side Roma.
The 30-year-old Belgian is currently staring an uncertain future in the face at Stamford Bridge after returning to London earlier this summer after having been on loan at Inter Milan last season.
Chelsea was only all too eager to dole out £97.5 million to sign the Belgian – who had previously spent time at Chelsea as a youngster – from Inter back in 2021, after he netted 24 times to guide the club to the Serie A title. However, his return to the club didn’t quite go according to plan, as the striker netted just eight Premier League goals during the 2021/22 season and found himself benched regularly after subsequently criticising then manager Thomas Tuchel in an interview with Italian media.
The latest report now purports that the player has agreed a deal with Serie A side Roma, currently managed by Jose Mourinho who had worked briefly with Lukaku at both Chelsea and Manchester United. Apparently he is now finally willing take a pay cut of almost a third of his current wages in order to complete the move, the report claims, as it is alleged the Blues are adamant in not wanting to contribute towards his salary while he is out on loan.
Chelsea have now agreed to let the forward leave on loan despite having initially hoped to find a club willing to sign Lukaku on a permanent deal but there were no willing takers.
Roma have so far only offered around half of the £9 million loan fee that their Premier League counterparts are demanding , which accounts for why a deal hasn’t yet been agreed.
Mourinho is likely happy with Lukaku’s record in Italy, with the striker having scored an impressive 78 goals in 132 matches across all competitions for Inter, including 57 in 97 top flight games.