Romelu Lukaku is ready to leave Chelsea this summer after just one season at the club, however his future will depend on if Marina Granovskaia stays in west London.
The 29-year-old returned to Stamford Bridge last summer for a club-record £97.5m from Inter Milan, but his time back with the Blues hasn't worked out as he would have initially hoped with the Belgium international eyeing up a return to the San Siro. He scored just 15 goals in all competitions for Thomas Tuchel's side last term in 44 appearances.
Chelsea have just been taken over by the consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital which has allowed Tuchel to work on his transfer plans ahead of what is expected to be a busy summer, with Boehly and co believed to be ready to hand the German head coach £200m in the transfer market.
Advert
Whether Lukaku will stay or go remains to be seen after he split from agency P&P Sport Management last month, seeing him link up with lawyer Sebastian Ledure, who is believed to be holding talks with Inter over a potential return.
Gianluca Di Marzio has now offered a fresh update on his future at Chelsea and claims it is now down to whether or not Granovskaia stays - her long-term position at the club is uncertain.
"It depends now on who will decide for the future of Chelsea," Di Marzio told Wettfreunde. "If Marina Granovskaia will stay or not. If she will stay, I don't think, knowing how she fought to have Lukaku, with Inter, last summer, and say 'you can go to Inter on loan without option to buy'.
Advert
"I think it's really, really difficult but in football transfers you can never say impossible.
"If Lukaku will say 'oh, I will go only to Inter otherwise I'll not come back' then it depends on the position of the club in Lukaku's situation.
"Obviously Inter is waiting. If they will see some little possibility of having Lukaku they will try to get him."
Advert
He added: "Lukaku would like to come back. He would like to come back since he left. From January he would like to come back.
"It's not depending on him or Inter. It only depends on Chelsea and I would really be surprised if loan him without any fee.
"Lukaku after battling to have him for €150m only 12 months ago, and I think it should be surprising if a club like Chelsea would let him go on a loan without any compensation."
Chelsea have been linked with a whole host of forwards this summer, including Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele who is out of contract at the end of the month.
Topics: Chelsea, Chelsea Transfer News & Rumours, Inter Milan, Romelu Lukaku, Marina Granovskaia
Matthew Debono