Chelsea fans react to ‘£110 MILLION’ raid for Lukaku as pursuit could end hopes of landing Haaland
Social media users have reacted after sensational news broke of Chelsea making an expensive raid for former Blues striker and Belgium international Romelu Lukaku over Norwegian wonderkid Erling Haaland.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported on Tuesday that the Champions League winners had already had an £85 million (€100 million / $118.5 million) bid for Lukaku's services rejected by Inter Milan.
But it is expected that increasing the offer could test the resolve of the Serie A holders, who have recent Copa America winner Lautaro Martinez on their books up top.
According to Goal.com, the Blues are preparing to return with an offer of up to £111 million to land the big Belgian.
Furthermore, left back Marcos Alonso, a Spain international who has experience in Italy following a stint at Fiorentina, could also be included in the deal.
Chelsea are preparing a new bid to sign Romelu Lukaku. Proposal expected around €120/130m after opening bid turned down by Inter [€100m + Marcos Alonso involved in the deal]. 🔵 #CFCChelsea are also offering Lukaku a long term contract for €12m net per season as salary.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 3, 2021
Blasting Inter to their first Serie A win in over a decade last term with 24 goals and 11 assists, Lukaku has never been a success at a top club in England.
Spanning from 2011-2014, he has one failed assignment at Stamford Bridge to his name where he made just 10 Premier League appearances without a goal.
Loan spellls at West Bromich Albion and Everton, prior to a permanent move to Merseyside, were far more successful, and caught the attention of Manchester United who then paid in excess of £70 million to capture him in 2017.
Struggling to kick on at Old Trafford too, however, he was shipped off to Inter like Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez, but has since blossomed into one of Europe's top forwards.
This has caught the attention of Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel, who believes Lukaku "could turn Chelsea’s inconsistent attack into one capable of challenging for the Premier League title", but reaction to the possible move when the Blues are also meant to be in the hunt for Haaland has been mixed.
The thought of watching Lukaku and Havertz linking up is just too perfect.
— Chelsea Extra 🏆 (@CFCExtra) August 3, 2021
Negative comments mostly centered on his sketchy history in England and his age at 28, plus why Chelsea couldn't go for broke and hand over the extra money needed to land Haaland.
But not everyone shared such pessimism.
"The thought of watching Lukaku and [Kai] Havertz linking up is just too perfect," it was said by a well-followed fan account.
"Romelu Lukaku will score so many goals in this Chelsea team…," another party predicted.
"Boy, oh boy, the league isn’t ready for what we are about to do to it."
Romelu Lukaku will score so many goals in this Chelsea team… boy oh boy the league isn’t ready for what we are about to do to it 😍
— George Benson (@MrGeorgeBenson) August 4, 2021
Spent the morning weighing up everything, Romelu Lukaku is an absolutely monstrous signing for Chelsea Football Club. I wanted Haaland, as he is the next footballing prodigy… but Lukaku is a world class ELITE striker who will walk into a team who are European Champions! Insane!
— George Benson (@MrGeorgeBenson) August 4, 2021
A few hours later, that same user wrote: "Spent the morning weighing up everything, Romelu Lukaku is an absolutely monstrous signing for Chelsea Football Club.
"I wanted Haaland, as he is the next footballing prodigy… but Lukaku is a world class ELITE striker who will walk into a team who are European Champions! Insane!"
This sort of attitude had fun poked at it by others that had picked up on it, with one critic remarking, "Chelsea fans switched from Haaland to Lukaku real quick" alongside a string of laugh-crying emojis.
Chelsea fans switched from Haaland to Lukaku real quick hahaha😂😂😂
— Sharyf🦁 (@__Sharyf) August 3, 2021
Chelsea fans rejecting Lukaku because they wanted Haaland is like a homeless man saying: “I don’t take cash, card only.”
— MAH (@matissearmani) August 4, 2021
Yet the fickleness of a certain section of Chelsea fans "rejecting Lukaku because they wanted Haaland" was not lost on others and compared to "a homeless man saying: 'I don’t take cash, card only.'"
Increasing the likelihood of the deal coming off, Lukaku is reportedly keen on returning to Stamford Bridge and believes he has "unfinished business" there to prove his worth.