Inter Milan banked nearly a hundred million on record signing Romelu Lukaku in August by selling him to Chelsea. However, while the Belgian struggles to adapt to the English game, Inter director Piero Ausilio has opened the door for his return.
Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio, in a response to agent Federico Pastorello’s comments about Lukaku possibly returning to Italy one day, said that the door is open for him to come back, albeit only temporarily. The Serie A club sold Lukaku for a club-record fee to Chelsea last summer but would only be able to finance a loan return if a move should develop, per Ausilio.
“Yes, but only on loan,”
Ausilio said when quizzed about the chances of Inter re-signing Lukaku.
He continued to suggest that Inter’s troubles in the summer, when they lost several key members of their title-winning squad, weren’t as devastating as suggested. The Nerazzurri effectively replaced Lukaku, Achraf Hakimi, and Christian Eriksen with Edin Dzeko, Joaquin Correa, Denzel Dumfries, and Hakan Calhanoglu while also changing their head coach.
Antonio Conte, who won Inter their first league title in a decade, left after disagreements with the board and was swiftly replaced by Lazio head coach Simone Inzaghi – who has the team in the first place as things stand.
“The situation wasn’t as bad as it was described, but losing Conte, Lukaku, Eriksen, and Hakimi could have killed anyone, but not Inter, you can’t give up after the first difficulty,”
“We felt confused when Lukaku asked us to leave because the player we had sacrificed on the market was Hakimi. However, we didn’t give up, we spoke to the coach and we picked the right players in [Edin] Dzeko and [Joaquin] Correa.
Ausilio continued.
Inter are flying high in the league after a shaky start to the season. The Nerazzurri are first with 43 points and are on a run of six straight league wins – five of which they have managed without conceding a goal. Meanwhile, Inzaghi has helped the Italian champions qualify for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 in his first attempt, something his predecessor Conte could not do in his two years at the club.
