Romelu Lukaku has touched down in Milan as he gets set to put his Chelsea misery behind him and complete his loan move back to Serie A giants Inter.
Footage which has circulated online shows Lukaku arriving back into Italy on Tuesday where he is greeted by a crowd of fans chanting his name.
Lukaku had a big smile on his face as he waved to those who came over to greet him.
He then raised his thumb up as people filmed him, and he walked away after slapping hands with a number of the crowd.
The 29-year-old is due to undergo his medical on Wednesday ahead of his return to Inter Milan on a one-year loan deal.
The Belgian left the San Siro for Stamford Bridge with huge expectations on his shoulders after signing for £98million last summer, and while he made a good start to life back in west London, he soon struggled for form and found himself down the pecking order under.
Lukaku also conducted a controversial interview with Italian media admitting he was unhappy with his role under the German coach – teasing a return to Italy – which saw him dropped from the Chelsea squad.
After an under-par campaign that saw him net just eight Premier League goals, Lukaku’s exit seemed inevitable and Inter have been locked in talks with Chelsea over a loan return, which will see them pay £6.9m to secure him for the season
‘We have to thank the availability of the presidency and the owners,’ Inter Milan CEO Giuseppe Marotta said about the move, via Goal. ‘I hope it can be closed, not in a few hours, but a few days.’
‘We cannot make it official yet,’ he added. ‘He is a returning player who has done very well with us and we are happy to bring him home.’
New co-owner Todd Boehly was convinced Lukaku’s departure was best for all parties once the Belgian made it clear how determined he was to leave.
In his interview with Sky Italia last December, Lukaku said: ‘After two years in Italy, in which I worked a lot at Inter with trainers and nutritionists, I am physically fine.
‘But I’m not happy with the situation, this is normal. I think the coach has chosen to play with another system, I just have to not give up and continue to work and be a professional.
‘I am not happy with the situation, but I am a worker and I must not give up.’
He also admitted he wanted to go back to Inter – just four months into his return to Chelsea – saying he was ‘in love with Italy’.
‘How I left Inter, how I communicated with the fans, this bothers me because it is not the right time now, but even when I left it was not the right time.
‘Now I think it is right to speak because I have always said that I have Inter in my heart, I will return to play there, I really hope so.
‘I am in love with Italy, this is rightly the time to talk and let people know what really happened without talking badly about people because I am not like that.
‘I want to say a big apology to the Inter fans because I think the way I left should have been different.
‘I really hope in the depths of my heart to return to Inter, not at the end of my career, but at a still good level to hopefully win more.
