Highlights
- Chelsea will engage in talks with Juventus regarding a potential swap deal between Dusan Vlahovic and Romelu Lukaku this week. The final decision rests with Mauricio Pochettino.
- Lukaku’s move to Inter Milan fell through after his contact with Juventus was revealed. The Italian club is now offering to take Lukaku and provide €40m in return for Vlahovic.
- However, Vlahovic’s performance as a striker has been lacking, with only ten goals in the last season and poor underlying numbers. Swapping Lukaku for him and paying €40m seems like a bad idea for Chelsea.
Chelsea will enter into a “new round of talks” with Italian giants Juventus over a potential swap deal with Dusan Vlahovic and Romelu Lukaku “this week”, but it is “Mauricio Pochettino who has to decide” on whether to do the deal or not, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
Chelsea transfer news – Dusan Vlahovic and Romelu Lukaku swap
It’s been another hectic transfer window in West London for the Blues this summer, with the side seemingly taking up even more headline space than they usually do, only this time, it’s been more from player sales than purchases.
The Pensioners kicked off the window with a fire sale of players that saw a swath of Champions League winning stars leave the club, with some opting to join the burgeoning Saudi Pro League like N’Golo Kante while others opted to stay a little closer to home like Kai Havertz who swapped West London for North London, signing for Arsenal.
That said, while Todd Boehly and Co have certainly done a good job in clearing out those they deemed surplus to requirements, there is still one international superstar they just can’t shift, Lukaku.
The Belgian international spent last season on loan with his former club Inter Milan and, after coming back to England for the summer, it looked like he would be making the move permanently, but after the Nerazzurri found out he had been speaking to Juventus, they broke off contact and announced the deal was off.
With Inter out of the picture, the Old Lady became the only viable way for the 30-year-old to leave the club whilst remaining in Europe, and so the Turin outfit have now offered Pochettino’s side a deal. They will take Lukaku and €40m (£34m), and in return, the Blues could have their misfiring frontman, Vlahovic.
With just over three weeks left of the transfer window, the sides are set for “crucial” talks this week; however, the final decision regarding Vlahovic will be down to Pochettino to make, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:
“Keep an eye also on Chelsea and Juventus. Because Chelsea and Juve will discuss again about Dusan Vlahovic and Romelu Lukaku deal, there will be a new round of talks. The two clubs have already booked a new ‘virtual meeting’, let’s say like this because it’s going to be via intermediaries discussing with Chelsea and Juventus sides.
“We know that Chelsea are still discussing internally. I told you Mauricio Pochettino will be crucial. It’s Pochettino who has to decide on Dusan Vlahovic because on club side they are discussing with Juventus; they know that Juve insist on €40m (£34m) to make this deal happen, so Lukaku to Juventus and Vlahovic to Chelsea, but Juve want €40m (£34m) as part of the deal so the two clubs are now in discussion.
“But Pochettino has to say yes or no to Dusan Vlahovic and also on club side they’re still waiting to see if they have something else for Romelu Lukaku. Otherwise, they have to decide on Dusan Vlahovic very soon, because Juventus this week have a new round of talks with Chelsea and so it’s going to be a crucial point for this negotiation, so keep an eye on this one.”
How old is Dusan Vlahovic?
Born January 28th 2000, in the Serbian capital Belgrade, Vlahovic is still only 23-years-old despite already having quite the CV in Italian football, staring at a club like Fiorentina before earning himself a move to arguably the biggest side in the country.
That said, he might not be the best option for a Chelsea side in need of a prolific 20 goals a season striker, as the 6 foot 3 titan has proven he is not that over the last 18 months.
In his 27 Serie A appearances last term, he scored just ten goals, provided two assists, and maintained a poor passing accuracy of 72.1% – the third worst in the entire squad -per WhoScored.
His underlying numbers are even more disappointing and make it quite clear that while he is clearly a serviceable striker, he lacks the necessary skills to lead the line for one of the Premier League’s best sides.
According to FBref, which compares players in a similar position in Europe’s top five leagues, he sits in the bottom 39% of players for touches in the opposition’s penalty area, the bottom 32% for progressive carries, the bottom 29% for shot-creating actions, and the bottom 18% for successful take-ons, all per 90.
While the west Londoners need to shift Lukaku and his enormous £325,000-a-week wages as soon as possible, swapping him for the unreliable Vlahovic and paying £34m in the process seems like a terrible idea.