Reports: Juve, Chelsea now talking possibility of Vlahovic, Lukaku swap deal

From the very beginning of the rumors linking Romelu Lukaku with a move to Juventus, there was one very large and handsome domino that needed to fall first. That was the sale of current Juventus No. 9 Dusan Vlahovic, who has been constantly linked with a move away from Turin this summer as the club deals with the financial realities of no Champions League.

But there appears to be talks of way to eliminate that pesky first step.

According to reports from the likes of Fabrizio Romano and Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Chelsea have re-opened talks with Juventus — albeit through intermediaries — regarding a swap deal involving Vlahovic and Lukaku, somebody the Blues are very much desperate to get off their books this summer. Earlier this summer, Chelsea balked at the idea of signing Vlahovic, who has since been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain, but now that August is almost here and they have yet to see Lukaku leave and sign somebody in his place.

Romano adds that Juventus would get cash along with Lukaku as part of the deal. It has been previously reported that Juve had submitted an offer of nearly €40 million to bring Lukaku to Turin after Chelsea’s deal with Inter fell apart and the club in which the big Belgian spent the 2022-23 season on loan at ended negotiations.

Now, as much as this would eliminate the part where you find a club to sell Vlahovic to and essentially take a step out of the process, we ask the question again: Is this a good move?

We don’t know how much money that Chelsea would send to Juventus as part of the deal. We’ve heard reports for weeks now that Juve want upward of €80 million for Vlahovic if it were to be a straight sale to another club, but that has not exactly materialized into a whole lot of offers that we’ve known about.

Is this an admission that Juve can’t get that much money? Or is this simply a way to basically kill two birds with one stone and “sell” Vlahovic while getting Lukaku in the same deal and bringing in a player that we have all assumed that Max Allegri really wants?

Either way, after a couple of weeks of relatively calm and quiet on the Lukaku rumor front, it looks as though potential moves may be starting in motion again ... unless Chelsea decides to not go for Vlahovic just like they at the beginning of July, per Romano.