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Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly reportedly urged Romelu Lukaku to join Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal with him. It is believed that the Senegal international is close to moving to the Saudi Professional League.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Express), Coulibaly wants the Belgian to accept Al Hilal’s lucrative offer. The club are offering him a £77m contract, and he would certainly become a face of the league if he made the move.
Lukaku, 30, spent the 2022-23 season on loan at Inter Milan, who are desperate to win him back. The Italian club have not yet reached an agreement with Chelsea, and the striker is set to return to Stamford Bridge when his loan deal expires this month.
Meanwhile, Coulibaly arrived last season from Napoli but failed to adapt to the Premier League and is now close to moving to Al-Hilal. Inter were interested in signing the defender on loan, but Chelsea just wanted a permanent sale.
Al Hilal is said to be paying the Blues close to 25 million euros for Coulibaly’s signature. Alongside the defender, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy are on their way to Saudi Arabia with Al Nasr and Al Ahly respectively (via transfer expert Fabrizio Romano).
Although Lukaku and Koulidbaly were signed to the Blues, they never played together, with the former being in Italy for the entirety of last season.
Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku’s lawyer has insisted his client does not want to leave Europe
While some reports claim that Coulibaly is trying to persuade Lukaku to move to Saudi Arabia, the Belgium lawyer has rejected these suggestions, claiming that his client wants to stay in Europe.
Lukaku’s lawyer Sebastian Ledor told Fabrizio Romano that Inter are trying to impress the Blues, the way things stand:
“Romelo wants to stay in Europe, and he has confirmed that by not moving to Saudi Arabia now. There are no ongoing talks with Milan (he is said to be interested).
“Inter have the ball in their court, but Chelsea’s position is that interested clubs must make a consistent offer.”
Lukaku scored 14 goals in 37 games with the Nerazzurri in the 2022/23 season. Overall, in two periods, the Belgian scored 78 goals in 132 matches.
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