Exclusive: Chelsea to complete striker transfer within days as Antonio Conte takes firm stance on Napoli deal

Napoli manager Antonio Conte is pushing to sign Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku and wants the deal to be completed this week, TEAMtalk can exclusively reveal.

The Belgian international re-joined Chelsea in 2021 for a then-club record fee of £97.5m but he has never lived up to his huge price tag at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku has been loaned out to Inter Milan and Roma in the last two seasons and the Blues are desperate to get his £325,000 per week wages off the books.

As previously revealed, Antonio Conte, who managed Lukaku at Inter, has made Lukaku his top striker target to replace Chelsea target Victor Osimhen.

Napoli are resigned to losing Osimhen and sources have revealed to TEAMtalk transfer correspondent Rudy Galetti that Conte wants to complete a deal for Lukaku before Friday – medical included.

Napoli were beaten 3-0 by Verona in their Serie A opener and Conte wants Lukaku available for their game against Bologna on Sunday.

We can confirm that, at Conte’s request, Napoli have made a loan offer for Lukaku with an obligation to buy set at €30m (£25.5m), which could rise to €35m (£29.8m) with add-ons.

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Lukaku is ready to join Napoli

TEAMtalk can reveal that personal terms between Lukaku and Napoli have already been agreed upon, with the Italian side willing to pay him roughly £100,000 per week.

Sources say that the 31-year-old is “just waiting” for a deal to be agreed between clubs as he is keen to reunite with Conte in Naples.

Chelsea are locked in talks with Napoli and we understand that the Italian giants are willing to increase their obligation to buy offer to a straight €35m to get a deal done.

This gets them close to the €43m (£36.7m) release clause in Lukaku’s contract, so everything points towards an agreement being reached.

Journalist Ben Jacobs claims, however, that Chelsea are not willing to accept anything less than €40m (£34m) for Lukaku, so whether the Italian giants are willing to go that high remains to be seen.

The negotiations for Lukaku are separate to those for Osimhen, who Enzo Maresca is very interested in bringing to Stamford Bridge this summer.

Lukaku scored an impressive 21 goals while on loan with Roma last season and Conte will hope for a similar return for Napoli as the manager aims to challenge for trophies this season.

With Conte desperate to get a deal done for Lukaku before Friday, an agreement between clubs for the experienced centre-forward seems imminent.

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