Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku opens door to Saudi Arabia move

Chelsea striker, Romelu Lukaku has revealed that he is open to playing in Saudi Arabia a year after he turned down a move to Al Hilal.

Lukaku will be allowed to leave Chelsea for around £37 million this summer after spending the last two years away from Stamford Bridge on loan at Inter Milan and with Mourinho at Roma.

He turned down a move to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal last summer and says that while there is infrastructure work to be done, he is clear that “Saudi Arabia is coming”.

In an interview with Belgian broadcasters VTM, Lukaku spoke about the possibility of a move this summer, saying: “A lot of people like to talk, maybe because I don’t have an agent. But I’m going to decide. I control my situation myself.

“I am going to make a choice and once I explain it, everyone is going to agree with me. Look, every time I decided to stay or leave somewhere, it turned out to be the right choice because of certain factors — for example my rapport with the coach”, Lukaku said. “It’s like a relationship with a woman. If it doesn’t click anymore, why stay together?

“Saudi Arabia wouldn’t stop me. The level will only increase,” said Lukaku to VTM. “To a much higher level than many people think. More and more football players will tend to play there. Also because of how the fans there experience football. The infrastructure still needs to be improved, but all major European clubs know, ‘Saudi Arabia is coming’. You already see that in boxing, golf, Formula 1…”

Speaking of his proposed move to Al-Hilal last summer, he added: “That was really intense at the time. For two weeks. For two days in a row I thought, ‘Yes, I’m going’, ‘No, I’m not going’.” 

Lukaku earns around £ 325,000 a week ($415,419) at Stamford Bridge and Chelsea are keen to remove that cost from their wage bill while raising funds for new signings.

The Belgium international has two years remaining on his Chelsea deal and the club are therefore reluctant to sanction a third loan move as they seek to recoup some of the £97.5m they paid Inter Milan in 2021.