Chelsea: Pundit backs Romelu Lukaku to leave permanently this summer

Pundit Frank McAvennie has suggested that Chelsea should look to cut ties with Romelu Lukaku during the upcoming summer transfer window. 

The striker, who Chelsea paid Inter Milan £97.5m for back in the 2021 summer transfer window, is currently on loan at the Italian club.

With his loan spell set to expire in the summer and with three years left on his contract at Chelsea, it has recently been reported that the striker is not currently in Graham Potter’s plans for the future.

This has since led to one pundit sharing his thoughts on the situation and what could happen moving forward.

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie said this about Lukaku and what the summer could look like for him.

He said: “I think he will go somewhere. If he is not in the manager’s plans then he has got to go.

“He has made that much money in the game now. I know money should not be a motivation but unfortunately a lot of it is in today’s game.

“I do not agree with it, it would never have happened when I played. You are still playing for the jersey and the fans and for yourself no matter how much money you get. That is the big thing that you should do. It is awful seeing players like Lukaku not bothering.”

This season has seen the Belgian score five goals in 19 appearances for Inter across all competitions, with injuries impacting his playing time.

His performances in Serie A have earned the on-loan striker a rather underwhelming overall season rating of 6.41/10 from WhoScored, placing him among some of the lowest-rated players that have started more than two league games for Inter.

Even though 12 clubs in the Premier League have scored more goals than Chelsea (29) this season, perhaps having Lukaku back in the squad may not be their ideal solution.

Moving forward, it seems that Potter and Todd Boehly will have a big decision on their hands in the summer once the 29-year-old returns to Stamford Bridge regarding what his next step will be.