Summary
Fabrizio Romano has dropped a rather interesting update involving a potential signing and a potential exit at Chelsea.
So, what is this latest news involving Chelsea?
Recently, The Guardian reported that Chelsea were weighing up a potential swap deal, with Juventus reportedly very keen on Lukaku, but are insisting that the Blues take Serbian forward Dusan Vlahovic as part of the deal as well as €40m. The Blues had rejected interest earlier in the window, but the report stated that a deal could happen.
The Blues do have a plan for Lukaku this summer after ostracizing him from the first team side just two years after his £97.5m switch, with the club planning to discuss with teams around Europe for the rest of August, and should a European move not materialize, discussions will be held with Saudi Arabian sides who maintain an interest in the Belgian record goalscorer throughout the first weeks of September, as the Saudi Pro League transfer window runs for longer than the European one.
The deal doesn't seem to be on however, as Chelsea have "no intention" to proceed with the deal at Juventus' current conditions, as they don't believe they should be paying as big of a fee alongside swapping Lukaku, despite the former Inter Milan striker having agreed personal terms with the Italian side on a three-year deal.
The situation could change should the Blues decide to address the issue created by Nkunku's injury, which is set to rule him out for a number of months.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano revealed that Chelsea have "no intention" to do the deal in its current conditions, and that their current focus is on finding other solutions for the Lukaku situation. "Chelsea also at this point in the market have no intention to accept any swap deal between Vlahovic and Lukaku. At the beginning of July Chelsea said no to Juventus when they proposed this kind of solution, now again because Juventus are asking for Lukaku and €40m fee. So it’s not just a swap deal, but it’s also €40m fee included and for Chelsea that is just not possible, so Chelsea are going to focus on other solutions for Lukaku. They’re going to explore other opportunities around Europe and in September in Saudi because the market in Saudi is open in the first weeks in September, so this is Chelsea’s position."
Read the latest Chelsea transfer news HERE…
Is swapping Lukaku and Vlahovic the right move?
On the face of things, swapping Lukaku and €40m for Vlahovic would be a terrible move.
When comparing the two forwards previous campaign's via FBref, the Belgian striker comes out on top in a number of key categories. Lukaku managed 0.54 goals and 0.33 assists per 90 for Inter Milan last season, whilst Vlahovic could only manage 0.47 goals and 0.09 assists. The 30-year-old was also a more consistent threat in front of goal, recording a 0.49 expected goals per 90 compared to the 23-year-old's 0.45 xG per 90. Lukaku was also better at bringing his attacking partners into the game and creating opportunities, managing a 2.9 xA across the season compared to Vlahovic's measly 0.8, whilst the Belgian recorded a fantastic 3.96 shot creating actions per 90 compared to the Serbian's disappointing 2.10.
The former Fiorentina man drew a lot of criticism last campaign, with the La Viola president stating "We paid €15 million combined for Arthur Cabral and Luka Jovic and they have already scored 20 goals in the three competitions we play in. Vlahovic, on the other hand, has scored 10 goals in Turin, two of which were penalties. He has exactly half [the number of goals] of our two forwards. And amidst all of this, we earned €70m. The Cabral-Jovic deal was excellent for us, unlike the Juventus deal for Vlahovic."
With the potential value that Chelsea would have to give up in this deal, it seems like a real poor decision, and explains why the Blues are not interested at this point.
