Chelsea: Potter will give £325k-a-week star 'clean slate' at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku could get a chance at Stamford Bridge following the arrival of Graham Potter, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

The £325,000 per-week star re-signed for the Blues last year, only to join Inter Milan on loan earlier this summer after a testing first season back in the Premier League.

Lukaku returned to Chelsea in a £97.5m deal back in 2021, but he looked a shadow of the player that had just fired Inter to the Serie A title.

He scored just 15 goals in all competitions, with only eight coming in the Premier League.

As a result, he was allowed to leave early in the summer transfer window, making a swift return to San Siro.

But Lukaku will still have three years remaining on his Chelsea contract once his loan deal finishes, meaning a decision will need to be made at the end of this season.

The Londoners have signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang since Lukaku’s departure, while youngster Armando Broja has penned a new long-term contract.

Regardless, Phillips reckons that every player at the club has a “clean slate” now that Potter has arrived.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I haven’t heard this personally. But it does fit with what I was told weeks ago that Potter is giving every Chelsea player a clean slate at the club and a chance to earn a place, whether that is players out on loan or already there.”

Lukaku enjoyed the perfect return to Inter, netting just two minutes into his second debut, which set the Italian giants on their way to a 2-1 opening day victory over Leece.

He would then register an assist the following week against Spezia Calcio, but he hasn’t scored or assisted since, although mainly because of injury.

The Belgium international hobbled off against Lazio with a muscle problem in