PSG consider Romelu Lukaku as potential Mbappe replacement

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The contract of Kylian Mbappe with Paris Saint-Germain is about to expire and the club appear to have given up hope of getting him to sign a new one. If so, his move on a free transfer to Real Madrid is now practically imminent and PSG need to plan for their future without the 23-year-old star.

According to Football Insider, one of the options they are considering at the moment is Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgian striker dropped some pretty clear hints of regretting his return to Stamford Bridge last summer, which cost Chelsea a reported fee of €115 million. His style doesn’t appear to suit the attacking ideas of manager Thomas Tuchel, who prefers versatile players who can move across the front line to keep their intention as unpredictable as possible when in possession. That indeed leaves very little to do for a player like Lukaku, who is as close to a classic centre-forward as you’re likely to see these days.

Lukaku first joined Chelsea from Anderlecht as a teenager, back in 2011. He had loan spells with West Bromwich Albion and Everton, before joining the Toffees on a permanent deal in 2014. Three years later, he moved on to Manchester United for a reported fee of around €84 million, of which United got €72m back when they sold him to Inter in 2019.

Lukaku played a big part in Inter winning the Scudetto in 2020-21, scoring 24 goals and providing 10 assists in 36 Serie A appearances for the Nerazzurri that season.

His move to PSG might actually make sense and suit all parties involved, but the current situation Chelsea are in might prevent that from happening. Under the terms of the restrictions the London club are on, they aren’t able to sign any players or give contract extensions, and that would arguably make letting a high-profile player leave for any money extremely unwise. Much will depend on the change of ownership which appears imminent at the moment.