Chelsea’s reported £100million move for Romelu Lukaku was quashed by talkSPORT transfer guru Alex Crook as it could be perceived as a ‘sign of weakness’.
The newly crowned Champions League winners want to strengthen their squad before mounting an assault on the Premier League and defending their European title.
Thomas Tuchel has reportedly keen to bring the Belgium international back to Stamford Bridge in order to fix a perceived lack of prolificacy in front of goal.
According to The Times, Tuchel spoke to Blues owner Roman Abramovich personally after the 1-0 victory over Manchester City in Porto and identified Lukaku as a legitimate target.
After moving to Everton in 2014, the 28-year-old then spent two years at Manchester United before a £74m move to Inter Milan, where he has just helped deliver the Serie A title with 24 goals.
Yet the financial uncertainty surrounding the Italian giants means Chelsea could well test Inter’s resolve with a bid for a player, with reports suggesting £100m could be the required figure to get a deal done.
But talkSPORT’s Alex Crook has serious doubts about the move happening due to a firm stance adpted by director Marina Granovskaia.
In the same way she shut down Frank Lampard’s request to bring back Declan Rice from West Ham, Crook believes the Russian-Canadian is unlikely to sanction a return for Lukaku.
He said on The Boot Room: “I don’t know about Lukaku because I do know that the head of operations, the head of recruitment, doesn’t necessarily like to re-sign players that they have sold.
“That’s why they were reluctant to give Frank Lampard Declan Rice – she sees it almost as a sign of weakness if you pay big money to buy back a player you’ve let go.
“So jury is out for me on that one.”