Lukaku never goes out of fashion: from the numbers to the evaluation, the big names still call Roma. But Chelsea will not give discounts

Serie A never seems to tire of Romelu Lukaku, close to returning to Chelsea. Despite the last two rather complicated seasons between a vitriolic separation with Inter and an interlocutory year at Roma, the center forward remains one of the most coveted on the market in view of a summer in which he will try to drag his Belgium to the European Championships. Already today his name is on the lips of many, including old and new admirers. Although, once again, the conditions for taking it do not seem to be the easiest.

Twenty-one goals, but also many subpar matches and that annoying habit of picking out matches with greater specific weight. In the capital Lukaku confirmed his strengths and weaknesses, concluding a season of championship and cup competitions that was just sufficient for the very high standards to which he has become accustomed throughout his career. However, this is apparently enough to get several eyes on you. The first to move was Napoli, which will soon end up in the hands of a very long-time admirer of his like Antonio Conte. Who, also apparently demanding a few kilos less on the scale, has already spoken to us and has already promised him a leading role. Milan, however, thought about putting a spanner in the works in the last few hours, having explored the possibility of reaching the center forward, while Roma have not released their reservations but do not seem to have the means or the intention to retain him. In London, you can bet, Big Rom certainly won’t stay: this is the only real certainty. Mourinho took care of a possible landing in Turkey with a terse “no thanks” to Fenerbahce. And while it is true that the market is unpredictable, the closure still seemed rather clear. Finally, Arabia: the sheikhs have not been heard for a while, but it is not excluded that they could return to office.

In addition to courtship, however, we must then move on to the facts. And this is where the difficulties inevitably increase. Because the Lukaku situation is not simple and if it is true that on the one hand the numbers speak for him on the other there are teams forced to think of a market that is as sustainable as possible. And Big Rom has very little that is sustainable at the moment: in addition to his age (31 for less than a month), there is a valuation agreed with Chelsea of ​​43 million euros that no one really likes. Least of all to Milan who would like him on loan without the right to buy, a formula currently excluded by the Blues who are convinced they have the time necessary to find a more advantageous solution. Napoli instead tried to insert the center forward as a partial counterpart in a hypothetical Osimhen deal, a suggestive hypothesis but never actually taken off because the Londoners are not interested in the Nigerian at the moment. The feeling is that to get to squaring the circle, a final blow will be needed that can interrupt this sort of Mexican stalemate: to date, Romelu Lukaku’s new path is anything but yet traced.

If until some time ago Lukaku was in all respects the face of Serie A, things have changed recently. More than the performance itself, it is the perception of Big Rom that has changed and this is undoubtedly due to the sensational break with Inter last summer: the Belgian suddenly became unpopular with many fans and even many insiders they didn’t fail to tease him often and willingly. Beyond personal opinions, however, there are numbers. Limiting ourselves to strictly current events, in the last championship Lukaku put together 13 goals and three assists and in the last 20 championships only two players had been more prolific in their debut year with Roma: Salah with his 14 goals in 2015/2016 and Abraham with the 17 seals in 2021/2022. Added to this are the seven achieved in the Europa League, which make him vice-top scorer of the latest edition of the event behind only Aubameyang (10). In short, Lukaku has never stopped scoring goals: 309 in his career with the clubs, to which must be added the 83 with Belgium of which he is the all-time top scorer. In short, Rom and goals have always gone hand in hand: for this reason alone, he will always deserve a chance.