Lukaku apologizes to Inter
Inter negotiated with Chelsea from the beginning of the transfer window and finally reached an agreement to buy Lukaku outright for $ 39 million and an additional $ 6 million in fees. The owner of Giuseppe Meazza is expected to close the deal when there is more money to transfer from the sale of goalkeeper Andre Onana to Man Utd.
However, Inter pulled out of negotiations with Chelsea when it was impossible to contact Lukaku on July 15 and discovered that the striker was interested in a potential offer from Juventus - the club also met Chelsea's asking price with an offer of $ 42 million with an additional $ 3 million. But Juventus will only buy Lukaku if Dusan Vlahovic leaves the club before August 4.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, in the context of uncertain future because he has been dropped from Chelsea's summer tour list, Lukaku has contacted the management and Inter players to beg for forgiveness and express his desire to continue playing for the club from next season.
However, Lukaku's efforts were in vain, as the board and players were both angry and frustrated with the 30-year-old striker's behavior, not wanting him to return to the club. They informed Lukaku that they did not want to make up, considering the striker secretly negotiating with Juventus as a "serious betrayal".
"No one feels they can forgive Lukaku right now, whether his apology is sincere or not. The most worrying thing is that the Belgian striker's return will create a 'time bomb' in the dressing room. The whole team, the coaching staff and the Inter leadership, all have lost faith in Lukaku, seeing that signing him is no longer a good idea," Gazzetta dello Sport quoted unnamed sources as saying.
According to Football Italia, Lukaku's mother, Adolphine, is the source of many of his son's recent troubles. Adolphine and her lawyer and agent Sebastien Ledure urged the 30-year-old to consider other clubs due to factors such as Simone Inzaghi's decision and his regular reserve in the Champions League season 2022-2023, including the final against Man City.
On July 22, Lukaku posted a mysterious message on social networks in response to rumors in the past. "When that hate didn't work, they started lying," wrote the Belgian striker on Instagram Story.
After the deal to recruit Lukaku collapsed, Inter turned to negotiate with Arsenal about Folarin Balogun. The Emirates Stadium owner asked for a fee of $ 65 million, and Inter only wanted to pay $ 50 million, including surcharges. Inter's backup plans are M'Bala Nzola (Spezia), Alvaro Morata (Atletico), Mehdi Taremi (Porto) and Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham).
Inter opened the summer training series with a 10-0 victory over Pergolettese on July 21. Next week, Inzaghi's teachers and students will have a tour to Japan, meeting Al Nassr - Cristiano Ronaldo's club - in Osaka on July 27 and PSG in Tokyo on August 1.
