Tottenham Hostpur have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Romelu Lukaku to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by 90min, who claim that Chelsea are now open to parting with the £97.5m centre-forward at the end of the current campaign, with Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain both believed to be keen on the 28-year-old’s signing.
Another interested party could well be Antonio Conte’s Tottenham, with The Daily Mail reporting back in January that the Belgium international would be keen to work with the Italian once again, while ex-pro turned analyst Frederic Gounongbe also claimed in an interview with RTL that Spurs would be interested in a move for the striker this summer.
Lukaku would “go to war” for Conte
Considering the unbridled success Conte enjoyed with Lukaku leading his line at Inter, it is not difficult to imagine the 52-year-old being extremely keen to work with the Belgian hitman once again at Tottenham.
While it is true that, following his big-money move to Chelsea last summer, Lukaku has not exactly been in the best form of his career – having bagged 12 goals over his 37 appearances in all competitions for Thomas Tuchel’s side, only five of which have come in the Premier League – the 28-year-old nevertheless proved last season just how deadly he can be in the final third.
Would you like to see Spurs make a move for Lukaku?
Indeed, over his 36 Serie A outings last term, the £350k-per-week played a key role in Inter’s title-winning campaign, scoring 24 goals, registering 11 assists and creating 10 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.7 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.
These metrics saw the £76.5m-rated forward who claimed he would “go to war” for Conte average a quite breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.32, not only ranking him as the 52-year-old’s best performer in the Italian top flight but also as the joint 12th-best player in the division as a whole.
As a result of these returns, Darren Bent recently stated his belief on talkSPORT that Lukaku would indeed be a fantastic signing for Fabio Paratici to get over the line for Spurs this summer, saying:
“If the worst came to the worst and Harry Kane did go elsewhere, if they could get Lukaku… we’ve seen what he’s done under Conte – he got the best out of him.
“Even down to his nutrition, that was the best I have ever seen him look last season. If there is an opportunity Kane leaves and Conte can get Lukaku, I’d go out all day to get him.
“For someone with Premier League experience, there would be no one better to bring in to replace Kane. I know they are completely different types of players, but Lukaku would be an adequate replacement – certainly with everything he has done with Conte.”
As such, while it would likely take a record-breaking fee – one much greater than the £63m Spurs paid Lyon for Tanguy Ndombele back in 2019 – in order for Tottenham to land the striker Sylvain Distin dubbed a “monster” this summer, it would nevertheless appear extremely advisable for Paratici to do all he can to seal Lukaku’s signing – as the Belgian is undoubtedly a player Conte would love to have at his disposal in north London.
AND in other news: Conte can finally axe “terrible” £91k-p/w dud as THFC plot bid for £58m-rated “leader”
