Lukaku finally seals permanent Chelsea exit as Blues agree deal with Napoli

Chelsea have finally agreed a deal with Napoli to sell Romelu Lukaku and ease Enzo Maresca’s worries as the end of the summer transfer window approaches.

Lukaku has been training with the Chelsea under-21s while the two clubs haggled over his future. He has been desperate to be reunited with his former Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte at Napoli, but progress in negotiations has been slow.

Napoli had initially been insistent on signing Lukaku on loan with an option to make the move permanent. But Chelsea held out for a straight transfer and their patience has finally been rewarded, with a deal struck for Lukaku to head to Naples for £25million (€30m) plus up to £13m (€15m) in add-ons.

Lukaku will sign a three-year contract with Napoli after the club bowed to pressure from Conte to break their usual approach to transfers. Conte has publicly called on Napoli to make signings and the move for 31-year-old Lukaku goes against their normal policy of bringing in youngsters.

Lukaku has spent the past two seasons on loan at Inter and Roma and his transfer to Napoli will bring to an end his expensive and unsuccessful return to Chelsea. The Belgium international re-joined the Blues for £97.5m in August 2021, but the club only got 15 goals in the 2021/22 season before he headed out on loan to Italy.

Nevertheless, Chelsea will be relieved to have offloaded Lukaku, given the issues Maresca has been forced to deal with due to their gigantic squad. “When you don’t find a solution you can create some problems but at the moment, with the squad that we have, I am working with 21, 22, 23 players because it is impossible for any manager in the world to make a session with 42 players. For sure, you cannot do that,” he said this week.

“Hopefully, when the window is finished, if we find a solution for them (unwanted players) it is better – but if we don’t find a solution, I don’t know what we’re going to see.”

Chelsea are still trying to get rid of Raheem Sterlong, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah before the window closes at 11pm on August 30. The club have shelled out over £200m to bring in 10 new players this summer and cannot afford to continue with their current numbers.

Lukaku’s move had been connected to Chelsea’s efforts to sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, but that transfer appears difficult for financial reasons. Osimhen is trying to force through a move, with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain interested, but his wage demands of nearly £300,000-a-week proving problematic.