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• Rumour Has It: Bayern plotting shock swoop for Chelsea flop Lukaku

  Chelsea seem to have resigned themselves to making a major loss on Romelu Lukaku, who has only netted five times on loan at Inter this term.

  According to a Football Insider report, the Blues are ready to move him on in at the end of the season, with Inter unlikely to try to extend his stay in Milan.

  Chelsea spent £97.5milion to bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge in August 2021, but they are unlikely to get anywhere near that now.

  TOP STORY – GERMAN CHAMPIONS LINE UP SHOCK LUKAKU MOVE

  Bayern Munich are lining up a shock move for Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku to bolster their attacking options, claims Fichajes.

  The report claims Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann is an admirer of the Belgium striker, who he believes is one of the world's best forwards if injury free.

  Bayern will not commence negotiations with Chelsea until the end of the season. The German champions had been linked with Harry Kane as they look for someone to replace Robert Lewandowski, who left for Barcelona last year.

  Calciomercato reports that Chelsea may try to land a deal with Roma with a swap deal involving Tammy Abraham.

   

  ROUND-UP

  – 90min claims Manchester City have reignited their interest in signing 19-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz following a long-term knee injury which forced him to miss the 2022 World Cup. Fabrizio Romano claims Real Madrid will compete for the German's services too.

  – Tottenham are interested in Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson, reports ESPN. Henderson is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from United, who could use Spurs' interest as leverage in a deal for Harry Kane, per the report

  – Leeds United forward Wilfried Gnonto is drawing interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, while 90min claims Juventus and Napoli are among a list of Italian clubs tracking him too.

  – Fabrizio Romano claims Barcelona on the cusp of agreeing to a deal with Athletic Bilbao centre-back Inigo Martinez to join the Blaugrana on a free transfer in the off-season.

  – Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to let Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches exit amid interest from Milan along with Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Tottenham and Wolves, reports 90min.

  – Football London reports Arsenal are ready to ramp up their interest in Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi with a bid to come in the coming months, although he has a €60m release clause in his contract.

• Saudi league can be one of the world's best, claims Ronaldo

  Cristiano Ronaldo is confident the Saudi Pro League can become one of the world's best competitions in the years to come.

  The Portugal captain joined Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr in the aftermath of the 2022 World Cup, with his second spell with Manchester United brought an abrupt end prior to the tournament in Qatar.

  A free agent after the Selecao's quarter-final exit at the hands of Morocco, Ronaldo promptly moved to the Middle East and has quickly settled, scoring nine goals in eight Pro League appearances.

  While widely considered a weaker league than those in Europe, Ronaldo believes those matches have prepared him for Portugal duty and expects the reputation of the Saudi top flight to improve in time.

  "I feel really good," he said ahead of Portugal's Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein. "That's why I'm here. If I didn't think so, I wouldn't be.

  "I'm in a very competitive league. They should look at the Saudi championship differently.

  "Obviously, it's not like the Premier League, I'd be lying if I said it was, but it's competitive. I'm surprised by the strength. It has good teams, it is balanced, the Arab players are good, the foreigners give quality.

  "Possibly it will be, in five to six years' time, if they continue this plan, the fourth or fifth most competitive league in the world."

  Ronaldo's return to United had not ended well as he fell out with Erik ten Hag and fired shots at the club in a no-holds-barred interview while still contracted at Old Trafford.

  "Sometimes you have to go through a few things to see who's on my side," he said on Wednesday. "At a difficult stage, you see who is on your side.

  "I have no problem saying I've had a bad time in my career, but there's no time for regrets.

  "Life goes on and, doing well or not, it was part of my growth. When we're at the top of the mountain, we often can't see what's down.

  "Now I am more prepared and this learning was important, because I had never been through this as in the last few months. Now I'm a better man."

• Kulusevski unperturbed by Conte comments and still happy to play under Tottenham coach

  Dejan Kulusevski did not take offence to Antonio Conte's criticism of his Tottenham side and is still happy to play under the Spurs coach.

  Conte labelled his players "selfish" after Tottenham drew 3-3 with Southampton, despite leading 3-1 with 15 minutes to go.

  It came just two weeks after Tottenham, who are fourth in the Premier League, exited both the FA Cup and Champions League in the space of a week.

  Conte is widely expected to be sacked, but Kulusevski, when asked if he was offended by the coach's comments, said: "No, because I know what I bring to the team every day.

  "I know that I prepare myself to do as good as I can, and that's why I can always look myself in the mirror.

  “Sometimes I know I don't play good enough, and I can take responsibility for that, but what he said is for him, that's his word.

  “I respect him, and he helped me a lot during my career. So, he's still a very important man in our club and in my work.”

  Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg suggested Conte needed to be "a little more precise" with his words, but Kulusevski believes the players can have few complaints after a poor run of form.

  "He was very disappointed, as were us players, and we have to accept that," said the winger.

  "We lost all the cups, we went out in Champions League also. So, I know that sometimes we have to be sad and angry, and that's how he took it.

  "Somebody else will take another way; we just have to respect his words.”

  As unlikely as it now seems, Kulusevski was then asked if he would still be happy to play under Conte and replied: "Yeah, absolutely.”