Chelsea considering Romelu Lukaku, Dusan Vlahovic swap deal with Juventus?

With Mauricio Pochettino set to start as manager on July 1, a revamp to the squad is anticipated to continue ahead of his arrival.

Trimming their currently inflated squad seems to be of high priority, with four players having already agreed to move to Saudi Arabia in this window.

N'Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech and Kalidou Koulibaly are all on their way to the Gulf state after disappointing seasons with the Blues, with Chelsea finishing 12th.

Lukaku is also believed to have an offer on the table from Saudi Arabia, but The Telegraph claim Chelsea would prefer a swap deal with Vlahovic, as that would also solve their current striker problem.

The 30-year-old is said to prefer a return to Italy despite a frustrating, injury-laden season at Inter Milan, which ended with an infamous miss in their Champions League final defeat to Manchester City in Istanbul.

Inter are unlikely to be able to afford a deal for Lukaku two years after selling him for £97.5m, and Chelsea have rejected a loan offer from the Nerazzurri for the Belgian.

With Chelsea in the market for a new striker though, and Juventus keen to sell Vlahovic, it is a deal which would appear to satisfy all parties.

Vlahovic has endured a troubled spell at Juve under Massimiliano Allegri after initially lighting up Serie A with Fiorentina - scoring 44 league goals in two-and-a-half years with La Viola.

The Serbian would often find himself on the bench or out with injury in the latter part of the 2022-23 campaign though, as the Bianconeri missed out on Champions League qualification.

After joining for £62m in January 2021, Vlahovic could leave for a similar fee with Juventus in financial trouble.

This news comes as The Telegraph also claims that a bid from Galatasaray for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been rejected by Chelsea.

The report states Chelsea are hoping for a fee for the striker, which they may receive from a Saudi club instead.

The 34-year-old still has another 12 months on his deal at the club, but he scored just one Premier League goal last season, and barely featured under Graham Potter or Frank Lampard after being brought in by Thomas Tuchel shortly before his sacking, and he is unlikely to have a future at the club.