Revealed: Romelu Lukaku’s release clause at Chelsea

Carlo Garganese

• 21 Nov 2023 12:18 GMT
• 3 min read

Romelu Lukaku has an unofficial release clause of €40 million which will be accepted by Chelsea next summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Lukaku is currently spending a second season on loan away from Chelsea, this time at Roma after spending the 2022-23 campaign back at Inter.

The 30-year-old had rejoined Chelsea from Inter in the summer of 2021 for a then-club record transfer fee of €115 million.

But he was a disaster during the 2021-22 campaign, falling out with manager Thomas Tuchel, criticising the club publicly and performing poorly on the pitch.

Since then Chelsea have decided Lukaku won’t play for the club again, a sentiment shared by the Belgian.

He spent the 2022-23 campaign back at Inter, and is now on a season-long loan at Roma.

Romano reveals that Chelsea have settled on an unofficial release clause of €40m for Roma or any other club to pay to make the transfer permanent next summer.

What is Lukaku’s release clause at Chelsea?

“From what I’m told, Romelu Lukaku has something like a release clause, but not a proper release clause,” Romano said on CaughtOffside.

“There is a gentleman’s agreement between the player’s agents and Chelsea, because they don’t want a situation like a few months ago in the summer transfer window when they had to negotiate with Juventus, then with Inter, then with Roma – it was a very complicated summer for Chelsea around the Lukaku story, and so there is now a possibility for him to leave for €40m – and that’s not just for Roma, that’s for any club.

“From what I’m told, Roma still have no clarity on what will happen next season with some key figures, such as manager Jose Mourinho and director Tiago Pinto – it’s therefore too early for Roma to decide if they can pay that money for Lukaku. We’ll have to see around March/April when things will become more clear.”

Lukaku has made a sensational start for his new club in 2023-24.

Despite arriving in the Italian capital very short of match fitness, the ex-Inter man took no time to get into his groove.

He has scored nine goals in 14 appearances in all competitions, averaging a goal every 127 minutes.

Lukaku has 17 goals in total for club and country in 2023-24, finding the back of the net four times against Azerbaijan for Belgium on Sunday in Euro 2024 qualification.

He has finished the European Qualifiers as top scorer with 14 goals, four more than Cristiano Ronaldo in second.