Chelsea 'open to swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku, Tammy Abraham'

Two years after selling Abraham to Roma, Chelsea could possibly bring him back, even though he is currently recovering from a ruptured ACL suffered in pre-season.

Chelsea are struggling in attack once again this season, after recording their worst attacking return in a top-flight campaign for almost a century last year.

After six games, the Blues have scored just five goals and find themselves all the way down in 14th in the Premier League table.

That comes after a third straight game which saw Mauricio Pochettino draw a blank in front of goal on Sunday, when Aston Villa won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

With Christopher Nkunku still out injured, Chelsea are likely to enter the market for a striker in January, with Nicolas Jackson their only current option.

With Lukaku still on the books but out on loan at Roma, CalcioMercato claims that Chelsea could use the Belgian striker as a bargaining chip in a deal for Abraham.

Both players are believed to be valued similarly, at around £35-40m, meaning that a straight exchange may be possible.

Chelsea are seemingly uninterested in keeping Lukaku at the club, given that Mauricio Pochettino did not use the striker at all during pre-season or in the early weeks of the season.

The deal is one that Roma would also be happy to progress in talks with, given Lukaku's impressive start with the club.

The Giallorossi are said to be keen to make his loan move permanent, especially if he can keep up his strong link-up with Paulo Dybala in attack.

Fresh from scoring two for Belgium against Estonia to take him to the top of the Euro 2024 qualifying scoring charts with eight goals in five games, Lukaku has continued that form at club level.

The 30-year-old made his first start for Roma in their 7-0 thrashing of Empoli two weeks ago, where he got on the scoresheet.

Lukaku then netted the winner in Moldova as Roma edged out Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League, before he scored again in their 1-1 draw with Torino over the weekend.

Roma are still down in 13th after a poor start before Lukaku's arrival, but his goals could be a decisive factor in whether they can break into the top four.

The Serie A side needed a replacement in attack since Abraham's unfortunate injury early in pre-season, and Lukaku is plugging that gap currently.

The English forward scored 36 goals in his first two seasons with the club, and helped Roma to Europa Conference League glory in 2022, finishing second in the overall scoring charts with nine goals.