By Tony Oji
Chelsea have successfully completed the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan on a five-year deal for a club-record fee, Orient Sports reports.
The 28-year-old returns to Stamford Bridge after departing seven years ago and has signed for a fee in the region of £97.5 million.
Lukaku becomes Chelsea’s record signing taking over from Kai Havertz.
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said, in Lukaku, they have signed “quite simply one of the world’s best strikers and goal scorers”.
“We are absolutely delighted to be bringing him back to the club he loves, and are excited to be adding his talent to our Champions League-winning squad,” she said.
Delightful Lukaku, says his coming back to Stanford Bridge is a huge chance to win lots of titles and fulfil his ambition of reaching football climax.
“I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club,” said Lukaku. “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.
“The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.
“The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A. I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together.
“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,” according to the club’s website.
Meanwhile, Lukaku may not be available for Chelsea‘s opening Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace due to technical details, as players need to be registered to the Premier League by Friday evening in order to be available for the Saturday fixture, under the rules stated by England’s top-flight.
The Belgian striker who is now fully back to Stamford Bridge, won the Serie A title as the Nerazzurri top goal scorer earlier this year.
Also, after loan spells at West Brom and Everton, he joined the latter in a £30m transfer where he established himself as one of the top strikers in the Premier League.
He later joined Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United for £75m in 2017 but only spent two seasons there, growing unpopular with the supporters despite scoring 42 goals in 96 games.
However, light beamed heavily on Lukaku, when he sealed Inter Milan deal in 2019. He became Antonio Conte’s main striker up front and ended his Nerazzurri career with 64 goals in 95 appearances.
Orient Sports confirms that European champions Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League last season and has added Super Cup to their cabinet after four attempts, kudos to Thomas Tuchel.