NEW DELHI: Romelu Lukaku's anticipated move to Roma from Chelsea has been successfully finalised on Wednesday, marking a significant development for both the player and the club. The supporters of Roma warmly embraced Lukaku upon his arrival, giving him a hero's welcome.
Though Roma has yet to make an official announcement, Serie A's list of completed transfers has confirmed the completion of the deal. Thousands of fans gathered at Ciampino airport near Rome to welcome the Belgian striker as he touched down on Tuesday, providing a much-needed morale boost for Roma after a challenging start to the new Serie A season.
According to reports in the Italian media, Chelsea accepted Roma's offer of approximately six million euros ($6.5 million) for Lukaku's season-long loan, enabling the Italian club to secure the services of the striker they sought since Tammy Abraham suffered knee ligament injury towards the end of the previous season.
As part of the move, Lukaku agreed to a reduction in his salary, moving from almost 11 million euros to approximately 7.5 million euros. This adjustment is in line with Roma's adherence to a Financial Fair Play settlement agreement established with UEFA.
Roma have collected one point from their first two matches and their inability to convert dominance into goals was fully on display during Saturday's 2-1 loss at Verona.
Chelsea meanwhile have been trying to permanently offload Lukaku all summer in a bid to end a disastrous transfer which cost the Premier League club a 115 million euro purchase fee from Inter Milan and his whopping annual salary.
But talks with Inter -- where he was loaned back to last season -- collapsed reportedly after the club discovered he had been secretly talking to their biggest rivals Juve and AC Milan.
Instead he has been reunited with his former coach at Manchester United Jose Mourinho as the capital club try to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2018.
(With AFP inputs)
