Chelsea have rejected Inter Milan’s latest offer of £26million for Romelu Lukaku.
It is the second bid they’ve pushed back on from the Serie A side, with Inter having previously tabled a £23m bid to sign the striker, who has been on loan at the club since last summer.
Todd Boehly wants £40m for the Belgian, who turned 30 back in May, but the Italian club have also expressed an interest in singing him on loan – which the blues will not allow.
They are not the only Italian club looking to sign the centre-forward, though, with league rivals Juventus also interested.
Max Allegri’s side are willing to sell striker Dusan Vlahovic to Mauricio Pochettino for as little as £21m, if the London side include Lukaku as part of a swap deal.
Chelsea have rejected a £26million bid for Romelu Lukaku (pictured) from Inter Milan
The Chelsea centre-forward spent last season on loan with the Italian outfit, who have now made two insufficient bids to sign him
It comes as Lukaku admitted last season that he was unhappy at Chelsea and is trying to force a move away from the club
The Blues need a new striker, with the club hoping to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang too this summer with his hefty wages having a large impact on their finances.
Mail Sport understands that they have already been in contact with Juve’s Serbian forward to become their new striker.
Lukaku joined the Blues from Inter Milan for £98m back in 2021, ten years after he previously joined the club from Anderlecht.
But he is now hoping to leave once again after he confessed he was unhappy with head coach Thomas Tuchel and the club in a bombshell interview that dropped last year.
It comes as his Chelsea team-mate Christian Pulisic has today completed a move to AC Milan on a four-year deal.
Pochettino’s side are in the midst of a huge summer re-vamp, with Lukaku set to join a growing list of departures from Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino’s (middle) side have been back in pre-season training but Lukaku has been absent as he tries to force a move out of the football club
Lukaku has recently posted Instagram pictures of him training alone ahead of the new season
The Belgian is aiming to stay in top physical shape to hit the ground running in 2023-2024
The Blues had pushed back his return to training, in a bid to allow him more time to resolve his future.
But Mail Sport wrote yesterday that it seems the 30-year-old will not return to pre-season training with the club and does not want to fly back to London either, as he hopes to force a move through to Inter Milan.
The Belgian has notably been in flying form for his national side recently, scoring in all of his last four appearances against Sweeden, Germany, Austria and Estonia, to amass an impressive haul of seven goals.
Last season, Lukaku returned 10 goals in 25 games while on loan with the Nerazzurri and has been pictured this week training alone ahead of the season.
