Chelsea FC Striker Romelu Lukaku Denies Juventus To Reunite With Mourinho At Roma

After playing Italy’s biggest clubs off against each other and rejecting $57M per season in Saudi Arabia, Romelu Lukaku lands to a hero’s welcome in Rome.

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has made a remarkable return to Italy, joining AS Roma for the 2023-24 season with the Serie A side paying an £8m ($10.07M) fee to loan the striker from the Premier League giants. Tens of thousands of fans gathered at Rome’s Ciampino Airport to celebrate the arrival of their star signing.

The Belgium star is set to make his club debut for Roma against arch-nemesis Milan at the Stadio Olimpico. There is no obligation for the La Lupa to make the deal permanent, however, they must cover Lukaku’s total salary of €7.5m ($8.16M) over the ten months of his stay. Currently valued at €40M ($43.54M) by Transfermarkt, the striker is delighted to return to Italy to work with manager Jose Mourinho. The pair’s last working relationship occurred between 2017-19 when Lukaku netted 32 times under the Portuguese tactician at Manchester United. The primary objective is to rewind the clock to Lukaku’s 2020-21 Scudetto-winning campaign where he delivered 28 goals in all competitions for Inter.

The personal touch

Roma president Dan Friedkin was instrumental in convincing Lukaku to commit to the eternal city, personally piloting Lu-La’s flight to the Italian capital. Friedkin is a 58-year-old American billionaire with an estimated net worth of $5.6B according to Forbes.

With the lack of prestige in missing out on Champions League football, critics are curious to know why Lukaku has accepted the Roma project. The short of it is that he craves to be the focal point of the starting XI. With Lautaro Martinez consolidating his status as the undisputed king at Inter, and with Juventus banned from European competitions altogether, Roma rolled out the red carpet treatment to secure their man. In return, Lukaku has agreed to a pay cut for the 2023-24 campaign yet still becomes the top dog at Trigoria, pocketing £7M ($8.8M, $1.24M more than Dybala) for his services.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal was also interested in signing the 30-year-old, but oversized personalities are fuelled by motivation from respected leaders. Lukaku won the coveted Italian title with Antonio Conte’s Inter in 2021 and played in the 2023 Champions League final under Simone Inzaghi. Seduced by fields of yellow and red upon disembarkation, he makes an unforgettable entrance into Italy’s largest city where he will be commanded by one of the best psychological minds that football has to offer – the Special One.

It appears as though Lukaku ended up making the right choice but it could have ended differently. For weeks, talks raged between Chelsea and Juventus for a potential swap-plus-cash deal in which the Londoners tabled an offer comprised of Big Rom plus €30M ($37.93M) in exchange for Dusan Vlahović. With the Bianconeri’s demands deemed excessive, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino hinted that he would be willing to reintegrate the wantaway forward into his squad if no interested parties showed up before Friday’s transfer deadline. Chelsea has inserted a €43M ($46.8M) non-exclusive buyout clause – a third of what they paid two years ago – meaning Juve could still make their move next summer.

Calcio’s Love Triangle

The saga between Roma, Inter and Juventus has intensified for a second successive year. Twelve months ago, La Magica beat Inter to Paolo Dybala’s signature after the Argentine agreed to part ways with Juventus following a seven-year stint in Turin that produced 115 goals. Up until last week, Juve felt assured that Lukaku would jump ship. Friedkin and his sporting director Tiago Pinto timed their bid beautifully, and with the additions of Renato Sanches and Houssem Aouar in midfield, it appears as though Roma is intent on rebuilding the Colosseum.

The decade-long relationship between Lukaku and Mourinho began awkwardly. Chelsea signed the forward from Anderlecht in 2011 for €22M ($23.95M) but he failed to make an impact in England until a successful loan spell at West Brom. Then-Blues manager, Mourinho, authorised his sale from Chelsea to Everton in 2014 for €35M ($38.1M) where he went on to contribute 87 goals. He become the first player since Gary Lineker in 1985-86 to score 20 times in a season for the Toffees. By 2017, Mourinho’s Manchester United splashed out €84.7M ($92.2M) to bring him to Old Trafford as a replacement for Wayne Rooney. Eighteen months later, and accelerated by Mourinho’s sacking in late 2018, Roma-Lu fell out of favour with caretaker coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær who prioritised Marcus Rashford instead.

The Telenovela

Lukaku’s Italian adventure began with Inter in 2019. Signed for €65M ($70.74M), the Belgium international smashed 64 goals in 95 appearances. With Inter’s decaying finances taking priority, and with Chelsea concluding that targets such as Erling Haaland and Harry Kane were too expensive, Lukaku was audaciously brought back to Stamford Bridge at the behest of Thomas Tuchel in 2021 for €115M ($126.16M) but could only manage eight league goals and was deemed not fit for purpose.

In the summer of 2022, Inter and Lukaku again joined forces to arrest Milan’s push for consecutive Serie A titles. The Beneamata were favourites to dethrone their cross-town rivals but could only manage a third-place finish in the league but knocked Milan out of the Champions League in May. With the season over, Inter boldly followed up with a lowball offer of £26m ($32.7M) for Lukaku which sparked secret talks between himself, Chelsea and Juventus. Inter Sporting director Piero Ausilio took offence and put an end to any interest. Labelled as a traitor by former owner Massimo Moratti, Lukaku will never be welcomed back despite adding 14 more goals to his Inter stash in 2022-23.

Meanwhile, Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi gave his blessing to the move. “Roma have done a great deal, it is good for Italian football to have Lukaku back. He is a great player, as we all know,” Inzaghi told DAZN after Inter defeated Cagliari on Monday.

Former Roma manager Claudio Ranieri also weighed in on Sky Sport. “I’m curious how many thousands of people will be at the airport tomorrow to greet him.”

“Alé, Forza Roma”

Now charmed by bella Roma – a club he’d previously scored against on three different occasions – Lukaku looks set to reignite his superb 355-goal career, 57 of which were notched up across 87 top-flight matches in Italy. With Roma yet to win this season in Serie A and Tammy Abraham unavailable until January, Lukaku will spearhead the attack alongside Dybala – a statement of intent from Friedkin.

Lukaku is an addition which takes Roma to the next level. While his much-anticipated debut will come at home this Friday against Milan, it’s the epic drama of Inter’s visit in October that leaves us salivating.