Inter Milan and Chelsea have come to an agreement about Romelu Lukaku and the Belgian striker will return to the Serie A club on loan for the coming season.
It has been reported that the loan fee is around £6.9 million.
The Belgian international re-joined the West London side for a club record £97.5 million last summer, but, despite a good start he struggled to adapt, and despite scoring 15 goals in all competitions, he found himself relegated to the bench for large parts of the second half of the season.
An ill-advised interview with Italian television in January in which he regretted leaving Inter also drove a wedge between him and Chelsea fans.
Inter do not have the money to match Lukaku’s wages in West London, so he has agreed a pay cut to play for them again.
His departure means that Chelsea can now concentrate on strengthening their attacking options ahead of the current season.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.