Chelsea reached an agreement in principle with Inter Milan that will allow Romelu Lukaku to return to the Nerazzurri on loan, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein.
The striker cost Chelsea €115 million to sign from Inter last August. However, last season’s disappointing return of eight goals over 26 Premier League outings – including a drought of over four months to begin 2022 – encouraged the Blues to accept a reported fee of €8 million plus add-ons from Inter.
Lukaku is expected to undergo a medical with Inter next week before joining his former side for the 2022-23 campaign.
The 29-year-old, who was also on Chelsea’s books from 2011-14, was prolific in front of goal during his stints with Anderlecht, West Bromwich Albion, and Everton earlier in his career. He wasn’t timid at Manchester United either, as he notched a reasonable 28 goals over 66 league appearances before leaving them for Inter in 2019.
His two seasons with Inter were the most fruitful of his career. He netted 47 goals, helping Inter win their first Scudetto since 2010 in his second campaign, and collected numerous individual awards.
Following last summer’s big-money transfer, Lukaku’s relationship with Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel appeared irreparable when the Belgian expressed unhappiness with the coach’s tactics during an unauthorized interview in December. He was subsequently benched for many of the team’s big matches, including Chelsea’s Champions League knockout games against Lille and Real Madrid.
Sadio Mane is leaving the Premier League after eight seasons.
Bayern Munich announced the signing of the 30-year-old from Liverpool on Wednesday, completing a deal that could cost as much as €41 million.
The agreement includes €32 million in guaranteed money and a further €9 million in performance-related bonuses, according to The Guardian’s Fabrizio Romano.
“My agent told me that there were also enquiries from other clubs, but for me, the feeling was right from the start when Bayern presented their plan with me,” Mane said of his move.
“It is one of the biggest clubs in the world and the team are always fighting for all the titles.”
Mane, who agreed to a three-year contract with the reigning Bundesliga champions, told Liverpool he wanted to leave shortly after the Champions League final on May 28. He still had a year remaining on his deal with the Premier League side.
Liverpool rejected Bayern’s first two bids before accepting their final offer on Friday. The arrival of Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez also seemed to unlock the negotiations. Nunez, 23, joined Liverpool from Benfica on Wednesday for an initial €75 million.
Mane spent two years at Southampton before joining Liverpool in 2016 and becoming one of the Premier League’s elite attackers. He racked up 120 goals and 38 assists in 269 appearances for the Reds while winning the Champions League in 2019, Premier League in 2020, and FA Cup and League Cup in 2022.
“One of Liverpool’s greatest ever players is leaving and we must acknowledge how significant this is,” Jurgen Klopp said. “The goals he scored, the trophies he won; a legend, for sure, but also a modern-day Liverpool icon.”
Now the Senegalese international will try to maintain his brilliance as Robert Lewandowski’s likely heir. The 33-year-old is actively pushing to leave Bayern after eight years at the club and has no intention of seeing out the year remaining on his contract.
Mane is a left-winger by trade and loves to cut in and dribble in the channels. However, he can operate as a center-forward, as he did in the second half of last season when Luis Diaz joined Liverpool and occupied the left flank. Mane finished the 2021-22 campaign with 23 goals in 51 appearances.
Raheem Sterling is closer than ever to leaving Manchester City.
The English winger is interested in a possible transfer to Chelsea and is impressed with new Blues owner Todd Boehly’s ambition, reports Rob Dawson of ESPN.
With Sterling set to enter the final year of his contract, Manchester City are reportedly eager to sell him for a fee this summer rather than risk losing him for nothing next year. The reigning Premier League winners have placed a price tag of between £50 million to £60 million for the 27-year-old, Dawson adds.
Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are also reportedly interested in Sterling, who’s believed to be intrigued by the possibility of playing in one of Europe’s other top five leagues.
It’s understood that City won’t stand in Sterling’s way if he requests a transfer this summer, though a final decision has yet to be made.
Doubts over his future at City are based on Sterling’s reported reluctance to extend his contract amid the belief that he isn’t a central part of manager Pep Guardiola’s plans for the future.
Sterling joined Manchester City in 2015 from Liverpool in a move worth an initial £44 million. He played an important role in helping the club win four Premier League titles and enjoyed the best scoring season of his career in 2019-20 when he recorded 31 goals – including 20 in the league.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A look at what’s happening around the New York Jets:
1. QB evaluation: Robert Saleh is a media-savvy coach who knows how to control the message, and that’s exactly what he tried to do with this comment about quarterback Zach Wilson: “He doesn’t need to be Tom Brady this year.”
It was an exaggerated way of saying it’s unfair to expect stardom in Year 2 even though he was the second pick in the 2021 draft.
Perhaps trying to contain outside expectations, which have grown amid a bountiful offseason, Saleh provided a reality check at the conclusion of the offseason. It also may have been a notice to Wilson, who too often tried to play hero ball as a rookie.
“People are forgetting that he’s got a young offensive supporting cast,” Saleh said as minicamp wrapped up. “His receivers are young, his backs are young, the O-line is just jelling together. He’s young.”
That led to the Brady quote.
“Now if ends up being [Brady], that’s awesome, but that’s not the expectation for him,” Saleh said. “The expectation is for him to continue to climb that mountain.”
Over four weeks of practice, Wilson delivered some Tom Brady, with a little Brady Quinn mixed in. In other words, his performances ranged from very good to choppy.
His decision-making, command and overall feel for the progression-based passing scheme are significantly better than last season, according to the coaching staff. He looks like a different quarterback than the rookie who was so overwhelmed at times that he wasn’t able to recognize his own mental mistakes. Now he doesn’t need the coaches to point out when he messes up; he knows it immediately. That shows a greater understanding of the position.
On the flip side, Wilson still misses too many routine throws. This was an issue last season, when his completion rates on throws behind the line of scrimmage (74%) and within 0-9 yards (62%) were the worst in the league, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Saleh called it a “rough” rookie year. The coaches believe those numbers will increase as Wilson improves his eye discipline, which is a fancy way of saying he needs to do a better job of getting his eyes in the right spot at the right time. That’s atop his to-do list. A quarterback can’t afford to miss that many lay-ups.
The Jets are expecting second-year QB Zach Wilson to make progress, not take a transformative leap. Rich Schultz/Getty Images
Don’t be alarmed. It’s only June, but Wilson’s consistency level should spike as the year progresses. No one expects a miracle turnaround, but he has to be better than a 56% passer, his overall completion mark.
“I really do have a lot of confidence in myself,” Wilson said. “Obviously, I think I can be one of the best. If anybody doesn’t say that, they’re not a true competitor.”
2. Unstoppable? The fans are excited about the team, and so are the players. Speaking of the receiving corps,
