Chelsea have re-signed the Belgian for a club-record fee, ten years after originally signing him from Anderlecht as a teenager. The striker became the club’s highest earner upon his return.
Chelsea have established the return of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for a club-record fee. The Belgian returned to Stamford Bridge after originally signing for the Blues in 2011, following which he spent several years out on loan before being sold permanently.
Chelsea have paid Internazionale a reported 97.5 million pounds to sign the Serie A-winning striker, a few million short of the British transfer record set earlier this summer by Jack Grealish’s move to Manchester City.
“I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club. It’s been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature,”
“Since I left Chelsea, it’s been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but these experiences made me strong and the challenge is to try to help the team win some more trophies. I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.”
Lukaku told the Chelsea website.
Lukaku made just 15 appearances in three years for Chelsea during his first stint at the club, only one of which was from the start. The Belgian, who was viewed by Chelsea as the successor to Didier Drogba, was loaned out to Premier League sides West Bromwich Albion and Everton and sold to the latter permanently in 2014.
Three seasons at Goodison Park later, Lukaku moved again, snubbing Chelsea in favor of a move to Manchester United. He left Old Trafford after making 96 appearances to join Inter in 2019.
With his return to Chelsea, Lukaku became history’s most expensive footballer in terms of accumulated fees. The 28-year-old cost 289 million pounds in total fees across six clubs, ten million more than Neymar.
Lukaku is expected to miss Chelsea’s opening league game of the 2021/22 season against Crystal Palace. However, the Belgian is in line to make his second debut for the club a week later, when the Blues face Arsenal.
