Chelsea today agreed a deal worth a club record €115 million (£97.5 million) to re-sign striker Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgium international, who was at Stamford Bridge between 2011-14, is expected to sign a five-year contract worth around €12-13 million-a-year net (about £195,000-a-week after tax). It will make him the highest earner at Stamford Bridge.
As The Athletic reported yesterday, talks between the two clubs stepped up on Friday with Chelsea aiming to include fringe players to lower the sum involved, while Inter Milan were hoping to get well in excess of £100 million.
Chelsea were determined to get the switch completed by Sunday night to ensure Lukaku is ready to start the Premier League season and a compromise has been reached.
Both sides will be happy with how negotiations have gone. Chelsea have managed to keep the fee under £100 million, while Inter Milan will receive the total in cash. It is understood Manchester United are also in line to pocket around €4m from the deal due to a sell-on clause from when Lukaku departed Old Trafford in 2019. That agreement related to a percentage of the total sale fee, as opposed to just profit.
Lukaku made it clear that he was keen on a move back to Stamford Bridge, where he was between 2011-14, earlier this week.