Romelu Lukaku’s £97.5m move to Chelsea is the worst Premier League transfer EVER, says Jamie O’Hara

Jamie O’Hara has criticised Romelu Lukaku’s £97.5million return to Chelsea last summer as ‘the worst transfer ever’.

Lukaku’s arrival last summer on a club record fee appeared to be a sign of intent from Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, and although he scored four times in his first four games, the Belgian fell away as the season progressed, scoring just eight times in the Premier League.

O’Hara also told Football Daily that Tuchel should have done more to keep Lukaku at Stamford Bridge, and perhaps did not do enough to convince him to stay and fight for his place in the side as he looks set to return to Inter Milan on loan. 

Romelu Lukaku has disappointed since his £97.5million return to Chelsea scoring just 15 in 44

O’Hara told Football Daily: ‘What a shocking move that is. Probably the worst Premier Leafue signing ever, he hasn’t even been at Chelsea a year and they paid £100million for him – ridiculous!

‘I would have kept him. I would have got my arm around him and said “we need Lukaku at his best this is a new era with new people” and Thomas Tuchel should have done better to keep him on side.

‘You’ve got Reece James and Ben Chilwell back this season, so he’s a player that would’ve been massive for them. 

Jamie O’Hara has criticised Thomas Tuchel, who dropped Lukaku after his Sky Italy interview

‘I think in the end he’s lost his confidence, he’s lost belief, the manager’s lost belief and they’ve cut ties and moved on.’ 

Having ended the season with 15 goals in 44 games in all competitions, Lukaku has ultimately cost Chelsea £6.5m per goal this season with his career at the Blues seemingly over. 

The 29-year-old caused waves within the Blues’ camp after giving a controversial television interview in December in which he criticised manager Thomas Tuchel.

Tuchel said he dropped Lukaku from Chelsea’s team to protect his side from ‘unwanted noise’

Following the interview, Tuchel dropped the Belgian to protect his side from unwanted noise and speculation. 

Lukaku claimed that he was unhappy with how he was being deployed in Tuchel’s system, before apologising to the German boss, reportedly vowing to ‘clean the mess up’.

Tuchel seemed to handle the situation well by incorporating the striker back into the side, but the damage had clearly already been down and Lukaku seems to have found the escape route he desired.  

Lukaku first joined Inter Milan in August 2019 and looks set to return a year after leaving

Inter will pay Chelsea a £7million loan fee plus add-ons, with Lukaku reportedly taking a 35 per cent pay cut on his wages of £325,000-a-week at Stamford Bridge, taking the figure to around £210,000. 

Inter president Steven Zhang attempted to restructure the proposed deal on Monday, but Lukaku will have a medical at Inter next week to confirm the move.

The 29-year-old Belgian striker is contracted at Stamford Bridge until 2026 but his desire to make a return to Inter has been evident since his infamous Sky Italia interview.