Romelu Lukaku’s agency power play to force Chelsea’s hand in transfer impasse

This summer is bound to be an important one for Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea, and one of his first decisions will have to be what’s next for Romelu Lukaku.

With the Blues showing throughout the 2022/23 Premier League season that they were desperate for a typical front man to put the ball in the back of the net, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Argentinian trying to persuade the Belgian marksman that his future likes at Stamford Bridge.

From the Belgian’s point of view, it seems fairly clear that he doesn’t want to return to west London, no matter how hard the club try to ensure he stays.

There’s likely to be plenty of negotiation before a concrete decision is made, though it’s clear where Lukaku wants to play his football in 2023/24, and that’s in Serie A.

According to FC Inter News, his ROC Nation agency are even planning on opening an office in Milan in order to be close by and ready to help their star client.

That’s some power player by the agency, and will surely strengthen Lukaku’s resolve to stay put at the San Siro.

There’s little point in keeping a player that doesn’t want to play for you, so if Pochettino were to insist he returns, he can’t expect Lukaku to have any interest whatsoever in his project moving forward.