HITC sources have confirmed that Chelsea have held talks with AC Milan over a deal for Romelu Lukaku in the last week.
Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker, has just completed his Euro 2024 duty with Belgium but his club future is very much up-in-the-air.
We had previously reported that Antonio Conte's Napoli were keen on the former Everton striker as the Italian manager was desperate to recruit a new centre-forward and the pair had a very fruitful partnership at Inter Milan.
A host of clubs are understood to be keen on Lukaku, mainly in Italy, and Chelsea want his long-term future resolved.
The preference from those at Stamford Bridge is to sell him this summer and not loan him after spending the last two-seasons in Serie A with Inter and Roma.
However, the move to Stamford Bridge, and to play under Thomas Tuchel, did not work out for Lukaku and he was sent back on loan to the Serie A giants before another loan at AS Roma. A sale now looks likely this summer
Lukaku is understood to have a release clause of PS38 million in his contract and that is the value Chelsea have set on him - although they would not demand the whole fee be paid in one lump sum.
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Chelsea have held talks with AS Roma but the Italian club are not willing to pay the asking price whilst Napoli are understood to remain keen.
Milan identify Zirkzee alternative The future of Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee is up in the air with Manchester United and Arsenal keen on the former Bayern Munich.
So, too, are AC Milan but a deal looks to be stalling with HITC reporting that the Italian club have not found an agreement with Zirkzee's representatives.
As a result of this, as well as interest from the Premier League, AC Milan are scouring the striker market for different options and Lukaku is understood to be one of them.
HITC can also confirm that during their talks Chelsea also offered Milan a number of other players to them including Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu and Trevoh Chalobah.