Romelu Lukaku has completed the main part of his Chelsea medical in Milan after the Premier League club agreed to pay Internazionale €115m (£97.5m) to re-sign the striker.
Lukaku left Milan by private jet on Monday evening to complete a move that will bring the transfer fees – excluding loans – spent on the Belgium international to about £285m. The amount to be paid by Chelsea falls shy of the Premier League record £100m spent by Manchester City to buy Jack Grealish from Aston Villa.
Thomas Tuchel has made a striker his priority and Chelsea moved for Lukaku after concluding that targets such as Erling Haaland and Harry Kane were out of reach. Lukaku said in June that he would be staying at Inter after winning Serie A but told the club last week that he wanted to rejoin Chelsea. He is expected to be paid about £250,000 a week.
Inter have been under pressure to raise funds because of their financial situation but had intended to hold on to Lukaku. His impending move means they plan to keep Lautaro Martínez, for whom Tottenham have offered €70m.
Lukaku is well acquainted with the Premier League having joined Chelsea from Anderlecht in 2011 and also played for West Brom, Everton and Manchester United. He turned down the chance to return to Stamford Bridge before eventually linking up with Antonio Conte at Inter last season.
But the Italian’s surprise departure at the end of May, not long after securing the club’s first Serie A title in 11 years, because of disagreements over the transfer budget, opened the door for Lukaku to rejoin Chelsea. Lukaku flew to Monaco on Monday to complete paperwork with his representatives and is due to fly from there to London.
It is understood Chelsea have also shown an interest in the Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic, although any move for the Austrian would depend on the departure of Tammy Abraham, who is wanted by Arsenal.
