Will Inter Be Forced To Sell Romelu Lukaku This Summer?

While Inter are agonisingly close to toppling Milan from the top of the Serie A table, it’s no less dramatic behind the scenes at the club.

Current reports suggest that the Italian football team are actively seeking a £142 million cash injection. This would be to help the club stay competitive while fighting off the devastating financial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With club owners struggling to find the appropriate amount of investment, it’s widely feared that Inter may be forced to sell star players such as Romelu Lukaku.

While Antonio Conte would be desperately unhappy to see a player of Lukaku’s calibre leave, it might be easier to get a cheaper goalscorer than to appease the majority shareholders Suning Holdings.

This is the Chinese investment group that bought Inter for over £230 million five years ago. But recent reports have suggested that Suning Holdings may have to sell Inter at an embarrassing loss.

The combined effects of the pandemic and an extravagant spending spree over the past few seasons have meant that the Nerazzurri simply can’t go on in the same manner.

Some recent signings such as that of Lukaku have worked spectacularly well, while other transfers like that of Christian Eriksen have been less impressive.

Plus with further incomings like Achraf Hakimi from Real Madrid and the inking of the deal for Alexis Sanchez, it’s left Inter with some big cashflow issues.

Suning Holdings have been hosting a series of meetings to try and organise some sources of investment for the cash-hungry club.

Talks were held with the private equity firm BC Partners, but there was no agreement in a valuation price for Inter Milan.

Apparently Suning Holding rated Inter to be worth £785 million, but BC Partners thought that the Italian club was worth over £100 million less.

Such figures may be unimaginable for anybody who’s used to calculating the smaller numbers involved in casino bonuses like https://www.playersbest.com/ca/lab/comparison/casino-bonus/, but it’s just another example of how big business now dominates modern football.

The overall valuation will ultimately depend on how well Antonio Conte’s team performs on the pitch. While there is little doubting Inter’s return to form in Serie A, the fact that Inter were dumped out of the Champions League group stages will have been a real blow to the club’s coffers.

Inter won just one of their six Champions League games and will now be added to the Europa League schedule.

All of which means that it’s going to be a tricky few months for Inter in balancing their ambitions along with the reality of having to pay the pills.

The fact that Manchester City are considering buying Romelu Lukaku is currently one of the worst-kept secrets in football.

The legendary City striker Sergio Aguero will come to the end of his contract this summer, and he’s been rumoured to be considering a move to Barcelona. All of which means that Lukaku could be a perfect replacement.

Aguero has been absent for much of the current season due to a variety of injuries.

While Manchester City have managed to get an impressive lead at the top of the Premier League table in his absence, it has become evident that they need an out-and-out goalscorer.

As such, there have been numerous reports that the English club are willing to splash out to buy Lukaku back from Inter.

It would be deeply ironic for the Belgian striker to sign with Manchester City considering that Inter signed Lukaku from their rivals Manchester United. While Lukaku had a pretty good strike rate at Manchester United, he never really settled in with the team and soon found his way out to San Siro.

Much depends on whether Manchester City would be willing to pay the asking price for Lukaku. He was brought from Manchester United for €65 million, and his 14 goals in the current Serie A campaign will have bumped that figure up a few notches.

Not that money will be too much of an issue for Manchester City as the club are already planning an epic €200 million spending spree that could include the likes of Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.

Ultimately much rests on how the behind-the-scenes efforts to stump up a £142 million cash injection go. If the investment is found, Antonio Conte can rely on Lukaku for one more season.

But if the finances aren’t generated, it could be a very different looking Inter Milan next year.