Romelu Lukaku has arrived in Italy in order to finalise a £5 million season-long loan move from Chelsea to Serie A powerhouse Roma.
After Chelsea approved a £5 million loan bid for the striker, the Belgian is prepared to sign a contract in the Italian city.
Lukaku and Jose Mourinho, the manager of Roma, will rejoin after having previously worked together at Manchester United and Stamford Bridge.
The 30-year-old is expected to regain his best form following a trying year in which he struggled to secure a starting position at Inter Milan last season and failed to score at the World Cup in Qatar.
On Tuesday afternoon, Lukaku arrived by private plane at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where he was welcomed by excited fans.
The forward, who was wearing a black top and black bottoms, waved to the cheering crowd as he started to down the jet’s steps and step onto the field.
He waved, touched his breast, and proceeded to express his gratitude for the greeting as he came out at the city’s second airport to loud cheers from the audience.
While being followed by security and Roma staff as he moved through the airport’s exterior guarded sections, a beaming Lukaku continued to engage with supporters.
Fans are yelling his name in an effort to attract the striker’s attention, and video shows him grinning and giving them the thumbs up.
The Chelsea player, whose transfer to Roma is almost complete, also displayed the club’s colors by raising a scarf above his head.
Lukaku is no stranger to Italian football thanks to prior stays at Inter Milan, where he won the Serie A championship two years ago while playing for Antonio Conte.
He had a fantastic season, scoring 30 goals for Inter across all competitions as they easily won the league.
Chelsea had planned to offload Lukaku this summer, but the Belgian rejected down offers from Inter and Juventus in addition to one from Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
After learning that Lukaku had been in contact with Juventus, Inter withdrew its permanent agreement offers of £23 million and £26 million.