Roma loan Lukaku from Chelsea

Roma have reached a season-long loan deal with Chelsea for striker Romelu Lukaku.

Rome officials Ryan Friedkin and Tiago Pinto flew to London over the weekend for face-to-face talks with Chelsea about bringing Lukaku to the Italian capital for a season.

The clubs have moved towards a direct agreement with a rental fee believed to be around £8m.

Lukaku spent last season on loan at Inter Milan after falling out of favor with Chelsea following a controversial interview in which he said he was unhappy with former manager Thomas Tuchel.

TO MEET JOSÉ MOURINHO

The striker was keen to return to Italy and was happy to go to Rome because of his desire to work again with manager José Mourinho.

Juventus were in talks with Chelsea to sign Lukaku earlier this summer, while Inter were interested in bringing the Belgian player back to Italy. Saudi outfit Al Hilal were also interested in the 30-year-old who joined Chelsea from Inter for £97.5m in August 2021.