Romelu Lukaku is apparently keen to quit Chelsea and return to Italy less than a year after making a world-record-breaking £97.5 million deal, but tax regulations may prevent him from doing so.
With 14 goals in all competitions, the 29-year-old concluded the season as the Blues’ top striker, although he has had a poor second tenure in west London. With only eight goals in the Premier League for Thomas Tuchel’s side, the club’s record signing from Inter Milan has mainly deceived.
Lukaku, according to rumours in Italy, wants to return to Serie A this summer after only one season back in England. According to Tuttomercatoweb, both AC Milan and Juventus are interested in signing the Blues player, but Italian tax laws make any prospective move cumbersome and hence doubtful.
According to the report, Milan are open to a loan transfer, although Lukaku would have to take a pay reduction from his £275,000-a-week contract. Because they would be ineligible to use the growth decree tax option, which allows Italian clubs to apply a 50% tax reduction to player earnings and hence pay less tax on their salary, they would be unable to use it.
If Lukaku returns to Milan, the 50% discount will not be given to professionals returning to the nation after only one season abroad or signing contracts of less than three years. A loan arrangement for Lukaku would be ineligible in both cases. It’s still feasible that Inter may make a re-signing offer to the striker who departed them in August 2021. Chelsea, on the other hand, would be hesitant to lose money on their club-record investment, which might put another wrench into the works.
Since December, Lukaku has been aggressively exploring a return to Italy, where he enjoyed two successful years. In December, the Belgian made an ill-advised interview with Italian media in which he openly expressed his dissatisfaction with living in London while also criticizing Tuchel’s methods. The attacker was compelled to apologize after the German head coach pulled him from the starting XI.
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Despite trying to put their feud behind them, Lukaku has failed to hold onto a regular berth under Tuchel since then, with Kai Havertz being Tuchel’s preferred No.9. Lukaku just began to challenge for that position towards the conclusion of the season, scoring three goals in as many games.
According to the source, Tuchel is willing to let Lukaku leave, but the difficulty in reaching an agreement that favors all sides may force him to stay at the club for the time being. After observing an improvement in his performance in training, the 48-year-old has expressed a readiness to stay with the team next season.
“It’s certainly frustrating for him, and it’s not what we had hoped for.” But it’s not done, and we’re not going to quit up,” he declared in April. “With any player, we never give in.” We’ll push him as hard as we can, and as long as the player has the attitude required to move a club ahead, he can still be a valuable contributor.”
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