Manchester City and Chelsea consider Lukaku as Haaland alternative

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According to The Telegraph, Chelsea are considering a swoop to bring Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge as an alternative for their primary attacking target this summer, Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund.

The Blues were reportedly prepared to pull out all the stops to sign Haaland, being well aware of extremely strong competition for the signature of the young Norwegian star. However, it has recently emerged that Dortmund wouldn’t part with the striker for anything less than €180 million, which appears to be out of the range of not only Chelsea, but every other potential suitor as well. Further more, the Bundesliga club are known as very tough negotiators, a club that doesn’t do business unless it’s on their terms.

Lukaku was on Chelsea’s books between 2011 and 2014, though he only made 15 appearances and had loan spells with West Bromwich Albion and Everton, before joining the Merseyside club on a permanent deal. He made his way to Manchester United in 2017, and arrived to Inter Milan two years later.

Meanwhile, Manchester Evening News report that Manchester City are currently entertaining the same idea. Manager Pep Guardiola is on the lookout for a suitable replacement for the club’s all-time leading goalscorer Sergio Aguero and had identified Haaland as the perfect candidate, but €180m appears too steep even for the super-rich Premier League leaders at the moment. Therefore, they’re also thinking about Lukaku.

However, Inter maintain the stance that the 27-year-old Belgium international is not for sale. It obviously means that either of the two English clubs, if they’re serious about it, would have to fork out a significant amount for Lukaku as well; though probably not anywhere near €180m.