Romelu Lukaku's Chelsea future questioned as transfer verdict delivered amid takeover talk

Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku faces a summer of uncertainty given his underwhelming return to the Premier League this season. The 28-year-old has found the net just 12 times in total for the Blues, of which only five have come in the league.

Lukaku re-joined Chelsea for a fee of around £97.5million last summer and has courted controversy during his time at Stamford Bridge with an eye-opening interview with back in January during which he admitted he was 'not happy' at the club. Since then, the forward has struggled to nail down a place in the side, with Timo Werner and Kai Havertz often preferred.

With the Blues marred by ongoing off field problem surrounding their ownership and potential sale of the club, talkSPORT pundit Charlie Austin has conceded he was wrong to suggest the former Manchester United man would solve Chelsea's striker problems.

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"I’ll hold my hands up, back end of last year I was saying: 'He’s the man Chelsea need, he’s the missing piece'. But now I don’t know," Austin admitted.

"I was alongside [Darren Bent] the week after the FA Cup semi-finals. The one where he [Lukaku] hit the post," continued Andy Goldstein. "Benty said those are the goals as a striker if you’re lacking in confidence, those are the ones you just want to hit your foot and go in.

“You just want them to hit you and go in, because when you are on fire, you don’t think. That comes across, that’s a goal," responded Austin. “If he had hit 20 goals by now, that goes in. I know that probably sounds stupid to a lot of people, but that is what it is."

With Lukaku said to be earning a mammoth £350,000 a week at Stamford Bridge, the Blues could find it hard to