says he feels at home at Inter Milan and knew that if his return to Chelsea didn’t work out he would always be able to move back to the San Siro.
The Belgian striker’s future is uncertain at this stage as he is due to return to Stamford Bridge at the end of his loan spell with Inter when this season comes to a close.
He has the small matter of a final to play with the Italians against before that, so he could sign off from his loan stint in serious style.
After that he will be back at Chelsea and is set for talks with the club and incoming manager over what is next for him.
He made it clear during his last stint with the Blues that he would prefer to be playing for Inter Milan and it appears that his attitude has not changed, with the way he is talking about the clubs now.
‘I was good at last season. But I knew then that if it didn’t work out at Chelsea, I still had Inter,’ Lukaku told .
‘When I signed again, I knew: I belong here. I had that too at Anderlecht. I take this club seriously. I want to do my best. The people here see that. Being encouraged here is the best thing there is.’
A deal to keep Lukaku at Inter Milan could be tricky to do, though, with reporting that a fee to take him on loan for another season could be as much as £20m.
Inter are not in brilliant shape financially, despite their impressive run to the Champions League final and that amount might not be achievable for another short-term deal.
Chelsea paid Inter £97.5m for Lukaku in 2021 and loaned him back to the Italian side last year for a fee of around £7m. If the Blues do not want to reintegrate him into their squad under their new manager they will want to recoup as much money for him as possible in the summer.
Lukaku’s season back in Italy has not been as successful as his previous two, when he signed for Inter from Manchester United in 2019 and scored 64 goals in two campaigns, winning Serie A in the process.
This season has been hit by injury and he has netted just 13 times in 33 appearances in all competitions, although still has the chance to stun Manchester City and win the Champions League for the first time in his career.
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