Romelu Lukaku 'delighted to be back' after rejoining Inter Milan from Chelsea

Belgian striker returns to Serie A side on loan move after disappointing spell back in Premier League

Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring for Chelsea against Aston Villa during the 2021/22 season when the Belgian finished with 14 goals from 44 games in all competitions. EPA

Romelu Lukaku scores from the penalty spot for Chelsea against Wolves in the Premier League, in May 2022. EPA

Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Wolves. Getty

Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku scores against Arsenal during the Premier League match in August 2021. Getty

A fan holds up a sign at Stamford Bridge during the game between Chelsea and Aston Villa in September 2021. Getty

Romelu Lukaku in August 2021 after completing his move back to Chelsea. Getty

Romelu Lukaku, pictured with his Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte, scored 64 goals in 95 games for the Serie A club. AP

Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku shoots at goal during the Serie A match against Parma in March 2021. AFP

Romelu Lukaku scores from the spot for Inter Milan during the Serie A game against Spezia in December 2020. Reuters

Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring for Inter Milan during their Serie A match against Torino in November 2020. Reuters

Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku celebrates after the Serie A match against AC Milan in February 2020. Reuters

Romelu Lukaku scored 42 goals in 96 games for Manchester United. AFP

Romelu Lukaku scores for Manchester United during the Premier League game at Burnley in September 2018. Reuters

Romelu Lukaku with Paul Pogba during his spell at Manchester United. Reuters

Romelu Lukaku scored 87 in 166 games for Everton. PA

Romelu Lukaku during his loan spell at Everton from Chelsea for the 2013/14 season. AFP

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku scores against Aston Villa in the Premier League. Reuters

Everton's Romelu Lukaku in action against Manchester United, the team he would end up joining. Getty

Romelu Lukaku celebrates after Leicester City's Matthew Upson scored an own goal against Everton during a 2-2 Premier League draw in February 2015. Getty

Romelu Lukaku during his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion from Chelsea when he scored 17 goals in 38 games in the 2012/13 season.

Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring while on loan at West Bromwich Albion.

Romelu Lukaku shoots at goal for Chelsea during a Premier League game against Aston Villa in August 2013. AFP

Romelu Lukaku made 15 appearances for Chelsea during his first spell without scoring. AFP

Romelu Lukaku scores for Anderlecht in a Europa League game against Athletic Bilbao in February 2010. Lukaku scored 41 goals in 98 games for the Belgian club. AFP

Anderlecht's Romelu Lukaku celebrates after scoring against Athletic Bilbao during the Europa League match in 2010. AFP

Romelu Lukaku has completed his loan move back to Inter Milan, less than a year since he left Serie A for a return to Chelsea and the Premier League.

Inter sold Lukaku to Chelsea in a £97.5 million deal – a club record for the London club – last summer but the move proved a bitter disappointment for club and player.

The Belgian striker scored just eight Premier League goals in 26 games and suffered a huge fallout with the club following an interview with Italian television in December when he criticised the tactics of manager Thomas Tuchel and talked about returning to Inter.

Less than seven months later, Lukaku has got his wish. Reports suggest Inter will pay Chelsea a loan fee of £6.9m plus £3.5m in bonuses if they win the Serie A title and cover his wages for the season.

The 29-year-old is also thought to have agreed to a pay cut to secure the move that will see his wages drop from £325,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge to around £210,000.

"It seemed impossible for me to come back here but we managed it and I'm grateful to him [Inter president Steven Zhang] for the way he kept pushing and believing it was possible," Lukaku said in an interview with Inter TV.

“We managed to do it in the end and I’m delighted to be back.”

Lukaku also revealed he had kept his house in Milan after his move to Chelsea.

“That means something,” he said. "I’m pleased to be back and now I can’t wait to get out there with my teammates.”

The move will see Lukaku link up again with Inter forward Lautaro Martínez in a formidable partnership that was dubbed “LuLa” by the Italian media.

"I'm very happy," Lukaku said in a video taken by Zhang and posted on the club's social media on Wednesday.

“That's what I'm here for,” Lukaku replied when asked by Zhang if he was going to score a lot of goals.

Chelsea ratings for 2021/22 season

Lukaku made himself a fan favourite during his two years at Inter after scoring 64 times in 95 games and driving them to their first Serie A title in more than a decade. The 2021 Scudetto triumph ended both an 11-year drought and Juventus' domination of Italian football.

But the joy at Inter was short lived as the financial problems of the club's owners, made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic, saw manager Antonio Conte leave the club unhappy at the proposed cost-cutting that was on the way.

Lukaku would follow Conte out of the door and head back to Chelsea, a club he had left in 2014, on a five-year contract. “I'm happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club,” Lukaku said at the time.

It looked like a match made in heaven with the reigning European champions short of a reliable goalscorer in attack and Lukaku started well, scoring four times in his first four games.

But it would be December before his next goal would arrive as form, injury and Covid-19 restricted his gametime.

Then came that infamous interview with Sky Italia. “Physically I am fine. But I'm not happy with the situation at Chelsea,” Lukaku said. “Tuchel has chosen to play with another system. I won't give up, I'll be professional.

“I really hope in the depths of my heart to return to Inter, not at the end of my career, but at a still good level to hopefully win more.”

Tuchel dropped Lukaku from their squad for the Premier League game against Liverpool and an uneasy tension between player, club and fans remained for the rest of the campaign.

He did contribute crucial goals against Al Hilal and then Palmeiras in the final to help Chelsea lift the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi in February - but would only find the net five more times as his season fizzled out.