New Chelsea chairman taken big hit on Lukaku.. but he's easily replaceable.

 New Chelsea chairman taken big hit on Lukaku.. but he's easily replaceable.

ROMELU LUKAKU will be surprisingly easy to replace, despite costing Chelsea £97.5million.

The club’s most expensive player scored only eight Premier League goals in his doomed year back at Stamford Bridge, so will hardly be missed.

But the first business for the new-look board of Chelsea directors, which was unveiled yesterday, was to swallow hard and accept a sizeable financial and reputational hit on a lame duck striker.

The paltry £7m loan fee Chelsea are receiving for sending Lukaku back to Inter Milan is embarrassing in itself.

As it stands, fledgling club chairman Todd Boehly is today staring at a £90.5m loss on one player just 24 hours after officially taking up position at the Bridge.

That would be enough to buy Manchester City’s incoming jewel Erling Haaland — and leave just shy of £40m change!

Champions City and Liverpool are the teams Chelsea need to catch if they want to regain the Premier League title after a six-year gap.

Right now last season’s top two are heading in one direction and Chelsea the other.

Whatever they ultimately trouser from offloading Lukaku, it will not make up for what the Londoners spent or the time and patience  invested in a player who wanted out for six months.

That cash is also at least a year away.