When Romelu Lukaku will make his second Chelsea debut

Romelu Lukaku is unlikely to feature in the Blues’ Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on Saturday, despite the transfer being officially announced on Thursday.

Chelsea have confirmed a club-record £97.5m deal to take Lukaku to Stamford Bridge for a second time, with the 28-year-old believed to have signed a five-year contract worth £196,000 per week.

The forward underwent the main body of his medical in Milan on Monday before flying to Nice to extend his representation agreement with agent Federico Pastorello, and then on to London on Wednesday evening – touching down at Kent’s Biggin Hill Airport.

The deal was finally announced on Thursday, but The Athletic report that it is unlikely to be available on to face Palace, although the reason is not specified.

Chelsea had hoped to have Lukaku available for the Super Cup against Villarreal on Wednesday night, but once that deadline passed they were aiming for their opening Premier League match at home to the Eagles at 3pm on Saturday. That now seems optimistic, though.

That means Lukaku will likely make his second Chelsea debut in the London derby against Arsenal on 22 August – get it in the diary, Blues fans.

Blues owner Roman Abramovich and head coach Thomas Tuchel had both sanctioned the pursuit of an elite striker following the squad’s struggles in front of goal last season, and the club’s negotiators turned their attentions to Lukaku when talks over a £135m move for Borussia Dortmund frontman Erling Haaland reached an impasse.

The Belgian netted 24 times in Serie A last season and laid on ten more as the Nerazzurri claimed a first Scudetto for a decade, ending Juventus’ era of domestic dominance.

Romelu LukakuRomelu Lukaku

Lukaku should soon be a Chelsea player / Nicolò Campo/Getty Images

Inter’s finances have been hit hard by the pandemic, with boss Antonio Conte leaving the club as they couldn’t guarantee that his stars would be kept – Achraf Hakimi has already departed for Paris Saint-Germain, and Lukaku will leave too.

90min revealed on Thursday that Lukaku was left devastated by Conte’s decision to exit San Siro, and that was the moment his stance changed about staying with with the Serie A winners.

Twitter reacts as Romelu Lukaku returns to Chelsea

He’s home.

Ten years after he first rocked up at Stamford Bridge, Romelu Lukaku is once again a Chelsea player, with the Blues parting with a club-record £97.5m to bring the 28-year-old Serie A winner back to London.

It’s safe to say Twitter was a little excited about the whole thing.

Chelsea spent last season crying out for a bona-fide goalscorer in attack, and in Lukaku, they’ve brought in one of the best in the business.

Having watched Jorginho claim the club’s top scorer prize with a measly seven strikes last year, Chelsea fans are hopeful that their team could be completely different this time around. Not only do they have someone who can score goals, but they have Lukaku.

We’ve all seen the video of him crying when he first visited the Bridge as a kid. Now, he’s finally going to get a fair shot at realising his dream.

So, what can we expect from Chelsea this year?

The reigning European champions, Chelsea looked like one of the best teams in the country last season following the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, but all they were lacking was a striker.

They’ve finally got someone who wants to put the ball in the back of the net, so does that mean trophies are on the way?

To make this even more fun for Chelsea, a lot of the immediate response to the announcement was from frustrated Manchester United fans.

However, the United supporters weren’t upset with the signing, but rather that it had come before their long-awaited acquisition of Raphael Varane.

Chelsea 2021/22 preview: Transfers, key player, fixtures, new kits, prediction & more

With Champions League and Super Cup glory already under their belt, Chelsea will be looking to keep the good times rolling under Thomas Tuchel when the 2021/22 season gets underway.

Having seen the level this squad is capable of reaching, Chelsea’s goal this season is clear – win the Premier League. It’s for that reason that Roman Abramovich is digging deep into his pockets once again, luring Romelu Lukaku back from Inter with a cool £97.5m.

The Blues have now added a bona-fide superstar striker, which is the one thing they were lacking last season, and fans are now expecting some big things from this new season.

In: Marcus Bettinelli (free), Romelu Lukaku (£97.5m)

Out: Fikayo Tomori (£25m), Victor Moses (£4m), Olivier Giroud (£1m), Marc Guehi (£18m), Valentino Livramento (£5m), Billy Gilmour (loan), Armando Broja (loan)

1. Kepa Arrizabalaga
2. Antonio Rudiger
3. Marcos Alonso
4. Andreas Christensen
5. Jorginho
6. Thiago Silva
7. N’Golo Kante
8. Ross Barkley
9. Tammy Abraham
10. Christian Pulisic
11. Timo Werner
12. Ruben Loftus-Cheek
13. Marcus Bettinelli
14. Trevoh Chalobah
15. Kurt Zouma
16. Edouard Mendy
17. Mateo Kovacic
18. Ethan Ampadu
19. Mason Mount
20. Callum Hudson-Odoi
21. Ben Chilwell
22. Hakim Ziyech
24. Reece James
28. Cesar Azpilicueta
29. Kai Havertz
33. Emerson

If Chelsea are going to win the Premier League this season, they’re going to need a big performance from new man Lukaku. The Belgian bagged 24 league goals last season – for comparison, Chelsea’s top scorer was Jorginho with seven.

Lukaku is still actually looking for his first Chelsea goal, having drawn a blank in his 15 previous outings for the club, but there is reason to believe he might just end that drought in pretty emphatic fashion this year.

On top of his goals, Lukaku will also be tasked with linking up with fellow key names like Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Mason Mount, all of whom are expected to be more among the goals now that Lukaku is here.

Seeing Trevoh Chalobah start the Super Cup victory over Villarreal came as a bit of a surprise, but 22-year-old defender ended up being a large part of the reason that Chelsea came home with the trophy.

The likeliest outcome for Chalobah is a loan move, with Valencia understood to be keen, but Tuchel is clearly a fan and could yet opt to keep the academy graduate around for the coming season.

Live TV broadcasts have been chosen for games up to the end of October, other dates and/or kick-off times after that point remain subject to change.

14 August 2021 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
22 August 2021 – 16:30 – Arsenal vs Chelsea (Sky Sports)
28 August 2021 – 17:30 – Liverpool vs Chelsea (Sky Sports)
19 September 2021 – 16:30 – Tottenham vs Chelsea (Sky Sports)
25 September 2021 – 12:30 – Chelsea vs Manchester City (BT Sport)
2 October 2021 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Southampton
16 October 2021 – 17:30 – Brentford vs Chelsea (Sky Sports)
23 October 2021 – 12:30 – Chelsea vs Norwich (BT Sport)
30 October 2021 – 15:00 – Newcastle vs Chelsea
6 November 2021 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Burnley
20 November 2021 – 15:00 – Leicester vs Chelsea
27 November 2021 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Manchester United
30 November 2021 – 19:45 – Watford vs Chelsea
4 December 2021 – 15:00 – West Ham vs Chelsea
11 December 2021 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Leeds
15 December 2021 – 20:00 – Chelsea vs Everton
18 December 2021 – 15:00 – Wolves vs Chelsea
26 December 2021 – 15:00 – Aston Villa vs Chelsea
28 December 2021 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Brighton
1 January 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Liverpool
15 January 2022 – 15:00 – Manchester City vs Chelsea
22 January 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Tottenham
8 February 2022 – 19:45 – Brighton vs Chelsea
12 February 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Arsenal
19 February 2022 – 15:00 – Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
26 February 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Leicester
5 March 2022 – 15:00 – Burnley vs Chelsea
12 March 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Newcastle
19 March 2022 – 15:00 – Norwich vs Chelsea
2 April 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Brentford
9 April 2022 – 15:00 – Southampton vs Chelsea
16 April 2022 – 15:00 – Leeds vs Chelsea
23 April 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs West Ham
30 April 2022 – 15:00 – Everton vs Chelsea
7 May 2022 – 15:00 – Chelsea vs Wolves
15 May 2022 – 15:00 – Manchester United vs Chelsea
22 May 2022 – 16:00 – Chelsea vs Watford

Home: Inspired by both the colours and the patterns of the 1960s. Pretty divisive among fans.

Away: Bringing back the old school yellow. Like a Borussia Dortmund tribute act.

Third: TBC

Cesar AzpilicuetaCesar Azpilicueta

Chelsea should be competitive on all fronts / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

We’ll know a lot about this Chelsea side around the start of the season and in January, when the Blues will face almost all of their direct rivals in two gruelling blocks of fixtures.

Under Tuchel, Chelsea have proven capable of beating those big boys – he’s already beaten Pep Guardiola and Man City three times – but there are still a handful of concerns over how they’ll deal with a low block. Just how much of an impact with Lukaku have?

With the Belgian leading the line, Chelsea should expect a deep run in Europe and a serious challenge for domestic silverware, but they still have a little more to prove before you can confidently say they have enough to get over the line.

2nd in the Premier League, Champions League semi-final, domestic cup win.

Chelsea confirm signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter

Chelsea have confirmed the return of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter for a club-record fee.

Ten years after his first move to Stamford Bridge back in 2011, Lukaku was quickly identified as one of Chelsea’s preferred targets in their search for a superstar striker alongside Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, whose £150m price tag proved to be too much for the Blues.

Attention turned back to Lukaku, whom Inter had insisted was untouchable earlier this summer, but the striker’s determination to return to Stamford Bridge saw them accept a bid of £97.5m from Chelsea.

He was initially scheduled to undergo a medical last week, but various delays prevented Lukaku from heading to Stamford Bridge and finalising things until now.

It’s taken a little longer than expected, but Chelsea have now taken to their official website to confirm that Lukaku is back for round two of his career at the Bridge.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Lukaku said: “I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club. It’s been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.

“The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.

“The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A. I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together.”

He added: “Since I left Chelsea, it’s been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but these experiences made me strong and the challenge is to try to help the team win some more trophies. I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.”

Lukaku is actually still waiting for his first goal in Chelsea blue. He managed 15 appearances for the club during his first stint but never managed to find the back of the net, and his last kick of a ball for the club was a missed penalty in the 2013 Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich.

He did, however, go on to bag 113 Premier League goals across 252 appearances with West Brom, Everton and Manchester United – enough to leave him 20th on the league’s all-time scoring charts.

Romelu LukakuRomelu Lukaku

Lukaku did not score in his first stint at Chelsea / Stanley Chou/Getty Images

Thomas Tuchel will hope to see Lukaku sore up those standings over the coming years and finally provide Chelsea with a bona-fide goal threat in attack.

Lukaku is not expected to make his debut in Saturday’s Premier League opener against Crystal Palace but could see his first taste of action in the derby against Arsenal a week later.

PSG sold 150,000 shirts in 7 minutes after Lionel Messi arrival

Paris Saint-Germain sold out of Lionel Messi shirts in just seven minutes on the night that the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s move to the French was confirmed earlier this week.

Messi left Barcelona after La Liga’s salary cap regulations prevented the club from registering a new contract and was quickly on his way to Paris to sign a two-year deal.

Messi opted for the number 30 shirt at PSG as opposed to his usual number 10, even though friend and former Barça colleague Neymar is thought to have offer it to him, with 30 a throwback to his earliest years as a professional more than 15 years ago.

On the pitch, Messi hopes to guide PSG to the elusive Champions League title they crave, but off it, his arrival in Paris is also expected to have a huge influence on the club in terms of far greater commercial reach and new sponsorship opportunities.

The appetite for Messi as a PSG player is clearly enormous and they stand to benefit significantly over the next couple of years by monetising his name to further grow their own brand and revenue.

Speaking on CNBC, football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained that PSG made 150,000 shirts available for sale at 11pm local time (10pm in the UK) and had sold out just seven minutes later.

It is a common myth that shirt sales alone will pay transfer fees (if applicable) and/or wages, but the increased commercial opportunities and interest that Messi brings to the club very much could.

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