Romelu Lukaku has decided to take matters into his own hands and personally ask for a meeting with Chelsea to understand if he will be allowed to return to Italy this summer.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Lukaku is still in conversation with former club Inter Milan, and if talks are successful he will ask Chelsea to allow him to return to Milan on loan for free.
The move could come at a huge cost to Chelsea, who signed the Belgian for £97.5million just 11 months ago.
Sportsmail takes a look at Lukaku’s season of woe in west London, where issues have emerged with boss Thomas Tuchel and why Inter are so keen to get a deal done to bring him back to Milan by June 30.
Romelu Lukaku has struggled for form at Chelsea since rejoining the club last summer
Lukaku had previously enjoyed plenty of success with Inter Milan in Italy, winning Serie A
LUKAKU’S STRUGGLES
The signing of Lukaku has already failed to pay the fruits of its labour, with the forward’s performances last season coming nowhere near justifying his club record price tag.
He scored just 15 goals in 44 appearances last term, and failed to hit the ground running back at Stamford Bridge after initially leaving the club in 2014.
He set a new unwanted Premier League record in Chelsea’s defeat of Crystal Palace in February, when his seven touches meant he had taken the fewest touches of a player to have played a full 90 minutes in a game, and he was regularly benched by manager Tuchel, who preferred to play midfielder Kai Havertz out of position up front instead.
Lukaku scored just 15 goals for Chelsea last season, failing to live up to expectations
The Belgian struggled to adapt to the style of Thomas Tuchel (centre), criticising it publicly
ISSUES WITH TUCHEL
Chelsea manager Tuchel has regularly supported Lukaku in the media, but his patience wore thin as the season progressed.
The former Manchester United striker doesn’t a have good relationship with Tuchel, and the German coach didn’t…