Romelu Lukaku is set to become Chelsea’s record signing.
With the Belgian returning to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan, at a cost of around £97.5 million, Thomas Tuchel finally has the world class striker he desires.
The news has garnered much excitement among Chelsea’s players and supporters, but there is one person connected to the club who will almost certainly not be celebrating: Tammy Abraham.
Only two seasons ago, the English striker was viewed as the man to fire Chelsea to glory, thanks to a fine 2019/20 campaign that saw him net 18 goals in all competitions.
But after Frank Lampard was replaced by Tuchel in January of this year, Abraham has scarcely featured, and was even left out of the matchday squads for the FA Cup and Champions League Finals.
Lukaku’s transfer almost certainly means Abraham’s 17-year association with the Blues is over.
Being a promising and prolific 23-year-old, Abraham has attracted much interest, most notably from Arsenal, Southampton and Atalanta.
And now a new, somewhat surprising club can be added to that list: Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
Reports in Italy suggest that the former Chelsea boss is keen to work with Abraham and that he is viewed as the long-term successor to Edin Dzeko.
Roma’s veteran No.9 is reportedly on his way out to Inter, with the Serie A champions wanting to sign the Bosnian as a replacement for Lukaku.
This would not be the first time that Chelsea have been involved in a three-way, striker transfer merry-go-round.
In January 2018, the Blues bought Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, who in turn bought Pierre Emerick Aubemeyang from Borussia Dortmund, who in turn signed Michy Batshuayi on loan from Stamford Bridge.
