Belgium international Romelu Lukaku has joined AS Roma from Chelsea on loan, according to the Italian Football League website on Wednesday.
The terms of this loan are not specified and AS Roma has not yet formalized the loan.
According to the Italian press, Chelsea, his club since 2021 which had then paid 115 million euros to Inter Milan to bring him in, will recover between 5.8 and 7 million euros in the operation.
The negotiations between Chelsea and Roma, led directly in London by the American owner-president of the Italian club Dan Friedkin, dragged on, particularly on the question of salary, Lukaku having finally accepted a reduction in his emoluments to still receive 7.5 million euros per year.
Lukaku, 30, returns to Serie A where he spent last season in the jersey of Inter Milan (43 matches, 21 goals), the club where he had already played between 2019 and 2021.
With Lukaku, whom he already managed when he was coach of Chelsea and Manchester United, Roma coach Jose Mourinho gets his hands on a licensed goalscorer (352 goals in 694 matches in all competitions since his professional debut in 2008 ), which weighs on opposing defenses with its physical impact.
His arrival in Rome, announced for several days, has aroused a wave of enthusiasm among Roma supporters who see the Paulo Dybala / Lukaku association offer them the title of champion.
They were nearly 5,000, excited, to welcome him Tuesday evening for his arrival at Ciampino airport.
Even if there is urgency for Roma who have only pocketed one point in two matches (13th) and who host AC Milan, leader, on Friday, they will have to wait to see “Big Rom” wear the jersey of their club in an official match, probably after the window of international matches in September.
His last match dates back to mid-June with Belgium and he did not participate in the preparation matches for the 2023-24 season with Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino having decided upon his arrival not to integrate him into his workforce.
This loan puts an end to one of the main soap operas of the transfer window in Italy: after turning his back on Inter Milan, with whom he played in the 2023 Champions League final, Lukaku was announced for a long time at Juventus Turin, as part of an exchange with Dusan Vlahovic, before landing in Rome, his seventh club since his debut.