Chelsea 'edge closer' to £25m transfer windfall despite setback over £85m star

Chelsea have been dealt a potential transfer windfall boost due to movements in the transfer market. The Blues are already off to a strong start in this transfer window, snapping up a handful of quality players such as Omari Hutchinson and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and somehow making a profit.

That’s because the Blues have also offloaded a number players, including Ian Maatsen, Omari Hutchinson and Lewis Hall. Balancing the books was always going to be important for Chelsea this summer as they bid to stay withing Profit and Sustainability rules following huge spending bills over recent years.

The Blues are still likely to spend more money this summer, with a striker required among others, but the good news is that they still have players they want to offload in a bid to create more spending room. Kepa Arrizabalaga will be offloaded, as will striker Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea will take a big loss on Lukaku, reportedly demanding around £25million this summer, but they signed him for around £97.5million in 2021, a deal that would turn out to be one of the biggest flops of recent years.

But much of that is now sunk cost, and Chelsea will welcome the £25million if and when it arrives. Recent reports have claimed that Lukaku has decided to join Napoli amid other approaches from Italy, but there is a key factor holding up the deal.

Napoli superstar Victor Osimhen, who has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, must move on before Napoli can sign a replacement, and around £85million is being demanded by the Serie A club. The Blues do not look like winning that particular race, with Paris Saint-Germain said to be closing in after they saw Kylian Mbappe join Real Madrid.

And while Chelsea may be disappointed to miss out on Osimhen, PSG’s progress means the Blues are likely getting closer to offloading Lukaku. Fabrizio Romano tweeted: “More on Victor Osimhen story from today. Paris Saint-Germain have Osimhen’s green light to project/move, work in progress on contract details. Negotiations between PSG and Napoli are now key part of the story, not easy. If Osimhen leaves, Napoli will go for Lukaku.”

What has been said about Lukaku move

Former Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino left the door open to a Lukaku return when speaking in the spring. “He’s a Chelsea player, so for sure we will pay attention,” he said. “It’s an option. But still we did not take any decision.”

The change of manager at Stamford Bridge likely puts an end to that, especially given the need Chelsea have to make more spending room. Asked about a stay in Roma at the back-end of last season, Lukaku played it smart, saying: “I don’t want to cause controversy in England, I have to be intelligent about this!”

Lukaku competed at Euro 2024 with Belgium and will be due to return for pre-season training over the next couple of weeks, providing a deal is not completed before then. In the meantime, fans will be hoping for some clarity from Maresca on the situation, with the question likely to be asked at some stage.