Chelsea are ready to make their move to land Raheem Sterling this summer from Manchester City, but only once Romelu Lukaku is sold to Inter Milan, according to reports.
Thomas Tuchel's side are currently in negotiations with the Nerazzurri to offload Lukaku after just one season at the club following his £97.5 million club-record return last summer.
15 goals later in all competitions during the 2021/22 season is all Lukaku will see in England as a move back to the San Siro nears, with talks scheduled on Sunday in a bid to strike an agreement between the two clubs.
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Lukaku is ready to take a wage cut to seal a transfer, but the loan fee has yet to be agreed after Inter had their initial offer declined by the Blues.
Tuchel wants to let the 29-year-old leave, while co-owner Todd Boehly is yet to be fully convinced of a departure being the right decision, but he is prepared to back the German.
The Chelsea head coach has been promised full control over targets and outgoings, and at the first time of asking he is being given the final decision, in this case a big-money signing departing after just one season. A big call.
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Chelsea are now planning for Lukaku's exit, who expects to leave within the next couple of weeks, and have identified several attacking targets.
RB Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku is of interest. Out of contract Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele is wanted by the west London side.
But Man City's Sterling could leave this summer and Chelsea are very interested in signing the England international.
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Tuchel warned his attackers at the end of last season that he could dip into the market to find more decisive players to add to his forward line.
“If we stick to the group then we will try to solve it with these players,” Tuchel admitted.
“Is it necessary to bring more offensive players around the box to create more distractions, to create more space for each other? We will ask that question. Can we do better in the structure? Can we push the players more? Did we rotate too much? Let’s see.
“There are a lot of options. The numbers we produce from our offensive players don’t allow us to over-perform and we need over-performance if we want to be nearer to the top two teams. I am not pointing fingers, I am not blaming anybody, but we need over-performance from everybody. It’s not over-performance if we have only single figures in scoring and assisting.”
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After monitoring Sterling, Simon Mullock now reports that Chelsea will make a move for the Man City star if Lukaku leaves, which is very likely.
Chelsea, Tuchel and Boehly will 'crank up' their pursuit of the England international, who is expected to cost in excess of £50 million this summer.
Sterling's contract expires next summer and no decision has been made yet over his future at the Etihad Stadium.
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Time will tell if Chelsea's interest in Sterling, 27, is serious. But the signs are there, once one domino falls the next will follow quickly after.
Topics: Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Chelsea, Manchester City, Transfers, Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku, Football, Premier League
Matthew Debono