EPL: Lukaku ruled out of Chelsea’s first match due to technical details

Romelu Lukaku will not be available for Chelsea’s opening Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace due to technical details with his £98million transfer, say reports.

The Belgian striker is set to complete a move back to Stamford Bridge, seven years after leaving the club, from Inter Milan where he won the Serie A title as the Nerazzurri top goalscorer earlier this year.

Lukaku is set to complete a £98m return to Chelsea, ten years after first joining (above)

Players need to be registered to the Premier League by Friday evening in order to be available for the Saturday fixture, under the rules stated by England’s top-flight.

And according to The Athletic, Lukaku’s transfer is unlikely to be formally completed until after the Blues’ match against Crystal Palace on Saturday, which kicks off at 3pm (BST).

The 28-year-old landed at Biggin Hill airport on Wednesday evening ahead of his move back to Stamford Bridge, after leaving the club back in 2014.

Lukaku passed the main part of his medical in Milan on Monday, where he appeared to be holding a Chelsea shirt in car, before flying to Nice for meetings with his agent Federico Pastorello in Monaco on Tuesday.

Lukaku (in grey) landed in London on Wednesday night ahead of his £98m move to Chelsea

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Pastorello has confirmed on Instagram that he has extended his contract with Lukaku and will continue to represent him until 2023.

The pair were then due to fly into London to finalise his switch on Tuesday, but those plans were delayed by Inter’s bid to secure Edin Dzeko from Roma as a replacement for Lukaku.

As reported by Sky Sports, the paperwork is now with club lawyers and once everything is agreed, Lukaku is expected to sign a five-year contract worth £200,000 a week.