“Noi Lukaku non lo vogliamo!” The Turin supporters smashed this sentence in the direction of the Juve bosses on Wednesday evening in the course of the traditional season opening game between the senior team and the youth team, which this time was played in front of more than 20,000 fans at the Allianz Stadium at home. In German, that means nothing other than: “We don’t want Lukaku!”
Romelu Lukaku has repeatedly been associated with a move to the Italian record champions in recent weeks. The 30-year-old Belgian strike tank, who made his name in Italy with Juve rivals Inter Milan, was initially forced to return to the Blues after his loan deal ended.
Actually, the plan in Milan was to sign Lukaku permanently, but that didn’t happen because the Belgian suddenly ignored Inter and didn’t even answer the phone with his long-time strike partner Lautaro Martinez, according to his statement (“I was disappointed”).
Fans don’t want a deal – there probably isn’t a deal either
There was much speculation about the Belgian’s motives, then the Italian media unanimously reported that Lukaku had distanced himself from FC Internazionale in order to force a move to Juventus Turin, who were excluded from European business this year.
In Turin, meanwhile, 23-year-old Vlahovic, with his contract that runs until 2026, is considered a possible transfer object to flush money into the tight coffers of the heavily indebted club. Unsurprisingly, the focus was on the following deal: Chelsea would hand over Lukaku, who was tied until 2026 and was never happy in London, to Juventus, add money and receive Vlahovic in return.
That obviously upset the Juventini. Because the supporters had already shouted their slogan against Lukaku loudly on the lawn several times during the season opening on Wednesday and also celebrated Vlahovic vehemently before many of them formed a circle in front of the main grandstand after the game and when collecting autographs to loudly again against a Lukaku -Transfer to protest.
The relationship between Juve fans and Lukaku is already strained. At the beginning of April, there was a racism scandal in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, when the Belgian was badly insulted, allowed himself to be provoked and had to leave the field with a red card. Nationwide outrage and investigations from the league followed, which resulted in: Lukaku acquitted, Juventus punished.
The question now is: will the two parties really see each other again under the Juve banner? It doesn’t look like it at the moment. Because according to “Sky Sport Italia” a deal with the English should now be off the table. The reason: Chelsea was only willing to offer 20 million euros plus Lukaku for the Serbs. According to the broadcaster, however, the people of Turin demanded at least 40 million euros extra.
