Striker Lukaku scored eight goals in 26 Premier League appearances for Chelsea last season.
Romelu Lukaku has returned to Inter Milan on a season-long loan just a year after leaving for Chelsea.
Chelsea paid Inter a club-record £97.5m last summer for Lukaku, 29. Still, before Christmas, he said he was "not happy" and looked forward to rejoining the Italian side. . Inter have agreed to pay a loan fee of around €8m for Lukaku, which helped him win Serie A in 2020-21.
The Belgian striker was not a regular starter for Chelsea last season but scored 15 goals in all competitions. It is understood that Lukaku was ready to take a pay cut to return to Inter, but the club's financial situation meant he couldn't match his salary or buy one outright. However, President Steven Zhang personally attended the talks last week, which were considered important.
"I'm back," Lukaku shared a video on Inter's Twitter page.
"I am very happy." Zhang said: "Bigg Boss is back. It's like deja vu, coming back here again." In an interview with Inter TV, Lukaku said it was "like coming home" and that he had been in touch with his new coach, Simone Inzaghi, "all the last season."
"Inter has given me a lot, and I now hope to do better than ever," said the frontman, who scored 64 goals in 95 appearances during his first spell in Italy. "When I went to England, I didn't even leave my house, which shows how happy I am to be back here."
Asked what persuaded him to return, Lukaku said: "The affection from the fans and my teammates, but also the opportunity to work with the coach. I've been in touch with him throughout the last season."
Lukaku, who left Chelsea in 2014 to join Everton for £28m, returned to Stamford Bridge last summer on a five-year deal.
But after a spell of injury and illness, he was dropped from the starting line-up and said in an interview with Sky Sport Italia that he was not happy with his role under manager Thomas Tuchel. Inter finished second in last season's Serie A, two points behind city rivals AC Milan. He is also in talks with Juventus forward Paulo Dybala. The Argentine international, 28, is set to become a free agent when his contract expires at the end of the month.