Chelsea locked in talks with Napoli over Romelu Lukaku swap transfer with Antonio Conte to be reunited with former star

CHELSEA are in “ongoing discussions” with Napoli over a deal to offload striker Romelu Lukaku, according to reports.

The Belgian, 31, has not featured for the Blues since 2022, less than 12 months after he returned to Stamford Bridge for a whopping £97.5million .

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Loan spells at Inter Milan and Roma followed, but it is Napoli who are now finally looking to sign him permanently.

That would see Lukaku reunite with ex-Inter coach Antonio Conte , 54, under whom he scored 64 goals across two seasons and won the Serie A title.

According to The Athletic , discussions between the Italian giants and Chelsea are also involving the possibility of Victor Osimhen going the other way on a loan with an option to buy.

Osimhen, 25, bagged 26 goals in the 2022/23 campaign to inspire Napoli to their first league title in 33 years.

But last season he registered a tally of just 15 as Napoli slipped to a 10th-place finish.

Since arriving from Lille four years ago, he has scored 76 goals in 133 appearances.

Lukaku, who has also spent time at West Brom, Everton and Manchester United , previously spoke glowingly about Conte in 2020 during his time at Inter.

He told Sky Sports : “I remember the first two weeks when I came, I spoke to my agent and said, ‘I’m suffering a lot in training because I never did this type of work’.

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“But Conte is always there at the sidelines encouraging every player to do the work.

“When I was looking around me no one was moaning, everyone was getting on with it.

“So for me it was something special because sometimes coaches are on the sidelines making jokes because you can’t do it.

“But he is there on the sideline wanting you to do more, encouraging you to do more.

“It can be as hard as you imagine, but no player will give up because he will give you that energy to keep going. That shows in the intensity on the pitch.”

However, Osimhen’s agent, Roberto Calenda, has quashed talk of a swap deal between his client and Lukaku.

He said: “I read about ‘fantasy exchanges’ with Victor… as if he was a package to be delivered quickly.

“This package is the top scorer of the third Scudetto in the history of Napoli.”