Chelsea SMASHED their wage record to land £98m man Romelu Lukaku, with their new striker earning ‘£450,000-a-week wages with bonuses,’ eclipsing N’Golo Kante’s salary by a HUGE £160,000
- Romelu Lukaku is Chelsea’s best-paid star following his move, reports suggest
- The 28-year-old has re-joined the Blues after sealing a £98m switch from Inter
- The Athletic reports that Lukaku will earn between £325k and £450k per week
- That figure dwarves N’Golo Kante’s salary of £290,000-per-week at the club
Romelu Lukaku has overtaken N’Golo Kante as Chelsea’s top earner following his mega-money move from Inter Milan.
Chelsea completed their £98million swoop for the 28-year-old on Thursday, with the European champions finally landing the elite goalscorer that Thomas Tuchel has sought after this summer.
Lukaku re-joins the Blues having left for Everton in 2013 for £28m, and returns to the club a player transformed from the raw talent that failed to make an impact at Stamford Bridge.
Romelu Lukaku is reportedly Chelsea’s best-paid player following his mega-money return
The 28-year-old has joined from Inter Milan in a £98m statement signing for the Londoners
And according to The Athletic, Lukaku comes back to west London as the highest earner in Tuchel’s squad, with the Belgian’s salary dwarfing new team-mate Kante’s £290,000-per-week wage.
The outlet reports that, once image rights and bonuses are taken into account, Lukaku is set to pocket somewhere between £325,000 and £450,00-per-week at Chelsea.
Lukaku’s wage could be as much as £160,000-per-week greater than Kante’s, while it puts him in the upper echelons of the Premier League’s best earners.
Lukaku’s (right) reported £450k-per-week earnings, when bonuses are taken into account, dwarfs the salary of Chelsea’s previous highest earner, N’Golo Kante (left), of £290k-per-week
The 28-year-old returns to England having won the Serie A title with Inter last season
Lukaku, who had led Inter Milan to the Scudetto last season, was understood to have been happy to remain in Italy this season, but the club’s financial predicament made Chelsea’s £98m bid an offer too good to refuse.
The 28-year-old has unfinished business in England, having left United without making the impact he had hoped.
His exploits in Italy, plus the seismic transfer sum paid and earnings he will pocket, sends a clear message that the Belgian returns with lofty expectations to storm the goalscoring charts for the Blues.
‘I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club,’ Lukaku told the club’s official website.
‘It’s been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.
‘The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.
‘The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A. I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together.
‘Since I left Chelsea, it’s been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but these experiences made me strong and the challenge is to try to help the team win some more trophies. I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.’
Lukaku is set to wear the No 18 shirt for the Blues – the same number he was given when he first joined as a teenager from Anderlecht almost a decade ago.