Romelu Lukaku sends Enzo Maresca a message

Romelu Lukaku has sent new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca a reminder of his qualities with a fantastic performance for Belgium. Lukaku scored twice for Belgium in a 3-0 win over Luxembourg on Saturday night as they warmed up for Euro 2024 in style.

Article continues under the video In the process, he took his incredible goal tally for the Belgium national team to 85 goals in 115 games. Lukaku is not in Chelsea’s plans for next season following his return to the club after his loan at Roma.

Following the appointment of Maresca as Chelsea manager this week, will the Italian be keen to keep Lukaku on? It appears unlikely but Lukaku has once again sent a reminder of his qualities as a goalscorer. New Napoli manager Antonio Conte wants to reunite with Lukaku once again after the pair won the Scudetto together at Inter. Lukaku is Conte’s number one choice to replace Victor Osimhen, who is up for sale this summer.

Chelsea have set an asking price of £38 million for Lukaku, which is deemed excessive by Napoli considering the striker is now 31.

Lukaku at Chelsea

Lukaku rejoined Chelsea rom Inter in the summer of 2021 for a then-club record transfer fee. But he was a disaster during the 2021-22 campaign, falling out with manager Thomas Tuchel, criticising the club publicly and performing poorly on the pitch. Chelsea have tried to sell Lukaku since then but have been unable to find a club willing to pay the amortised cost of his transfer each summer.

As a result, he spent the 2022-23 campaign back at Inter on loan, and then the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Roma. Roma decided not to keep Lukaku permanently, despite Lukaku scoring a respectable 20 goals in all competitions last season.

There is also interest in Lukaku from Saudi Arabia, but his preference would be to reunite with Conte again.