FC Barcelona Are Interested In Signing Lukaku From Chelsea

FC Barcelona are interested in signing Chelsea and Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, according to reports from Spain.

In desperate need of a ‘9’ next season, amid difficult attempts to land Bundesliga greats Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski, the Blaugrana have reportedly turned their focus towards Lukaku.

If Haaland was their Plan A and Lewandowski Plan B, Lukaku is a Plan C never mentioned in connection with Barca until a report from MAR
AR
CA on Friday afternoon.

Scoring 64 goals across 95 games in two seasons at Inter Milan, where he won the Serie A title under Antonio Conte, Lukaku has suffered a downturn in form at Chelsea, who bought him for a club record £97.5mn ($120mn) in the last summer transfer window, and has mustered just 12 successful strikes this term.

This has led to widespread speculation that the 28-year-old will move on at the end of the current campaign, and while cash-strapped Barca would have no chance of handing over the kind of sum Chelsea parted with to acquire Lukaku’s services, a loan deal with a fee and taking on part of the player’s wages is more feasible.

Chelsea have also shown interest in Barca right back Sergino Dest who could be involved in a potential coup. But the West Londoners’ situation has been made complicated by sanctions on owner Roman Abramovich due to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and alleged links to President Vladimir Putin.

Furthermore, Chelsea might not be willing to sell to a club that has tried to take three top defenders from them in recent weeks such as captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger who are all free agents come June 30.

An approach for Lukaku would also see Barca shift attention from Lukaku’s former Inter teammate Lautaro Martinez, after reports this month said Xavi Hernandez’s men were again ready to launch a bid for Lionel Messi’s fellow Argentina international.

In any case, it seems that despite blistering success since joining from Arsenal in the winter transfer market, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hasn’t convinced the coach that he can be relied upon to lead the front line alone with the Gabonese ace’s advancing years possibly an additional factor to consider.