Romelu Lukaku admits that he could still be tempted by a move to Saudi Arabia after seeing a mega-money deal collapse.

The Belgian striker, who spent last season on-loan with Roma from Chelsea, has little future at Stamford Bridge. He is not expected to play for the Blues again, with their asking price for a permanent deal sitting at £37million.

A number of clubs have already expressed their interest including Napoli, AC Milan and Turkish heavyweights Fenerbahce, who former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho now manages. Lukaku has now admitted that he would be open to a move to Saudi Arabia and the riches that the league has to offer.

Speaking to VTM via HLN, the forward said: “Saudi Arabia wouldn’t stop me. The level will only increase. To a much higher level than many people think. More and more football players will tend to play there.

“Also because of how the fans there experience football. The infrastructure still needs to be improved, but all major European top clubs know, ‘Saudi Arabia is coming’. You already see that in boxing, golf, Formula 1.”

Lukaku was on the verge of a switch to Al-Hilal last summer only to see the move collapse at the 11th hour. He has since admitted that he was left concerned.

Lukaku added: “That was really intense at the time. For two weeks. For two days in a row I thought, ‘Yes, I’m going’, ‘No, I’m not going’. Because everyone only went to Saudi Arabia after I could sign there, I was scared for a moment.”

Lukaku, now 31, is not the only star of the Belgium side to admit Saudi Arabia could be in his future. Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne recently said he’d been giving a transfer to the Middle East serious thought with just one year remaining on his contract at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking earlier this week, De Bruyne said: “At my age you have to be open to everything. You’re talking about incredible amounts of money in what may be the end of my career.

“Sometimes you have to think about that. If I play there [Saudi Arabia] for two years, I will be able to earn an incredible amount of money. Before that I had to play football for 15 years.

“I may not even reach that amount yet. Then you have to think about what that could mean next. But at the moment I haven’t had to think about that yet.”

Like Lukaku, wheels already appear to have been set in motion regarding a future move. Up to 10 Saudi clubs have held discussions with De Bruyne’s representatives. MLS outfit San Diego FC also interested in swooping for the six-time Premier League winner.