Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has told Inter Milan he is prepared to take a significant pay cut to re-join the Italian club this summer.
The striker, 29, is reportedly looking for a move away from Stamford Bridge following a difficult season at the club after returning from Inter last year.
When Lukaku signed for the Blues for £97.5million, he received a considerable increase on the salary he was earning in Italy.
However, according to the Daily Mail, the Belgian is open to reducing his wages to £125,000-a-week – representing a cut of £3m a year – to secure a return to the San Siro.
The report goes on to say that any transfer would likely be a loan deal, with Inter unable to afford a hefty financial package.
It is unknown whether Chelsea would be keen on letting Lukaku leave on a temporary basis which may result in the club topping up his wages.
Last season, he scored just eight goals in the Premier League and fell out-of-favour with Thomas Tuchel.
With Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger set to leave the club, much of Chelsea’s transfer plans were thought to focus on defensive reinforcements.
However, their struggles in front of goal in the second half of last season has prompted Tuchel to target new forwards.
The German has been linked with a move for the likes of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, with new owner Todd Boehly ready to invest in the squad.
Speaking last month, Tuchel acknowledged he may need to enter the market for strikers this summer.
He said: ‘If we stick to the group then we will try to solve it with these players. 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.
‘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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