Romelu Lukaku has given his all to Manchester United. Yet, that didn’t seem enough and the striker wanted out and was Ken on moving in the summer. After securing a move to Italian giants, Inter Milan, this looked like a good way for the Belgium star to start fresh. The Belgium highest goal scorer was once quoted to have said, “I knew I wanted to leave Manchester United in March 2019.” The controversial surrounding United’s politics, is said to be a major reason. With the Belgium star moving on to Italian giants, Inter, after so many backlash, one could only hope things would have gotten better.
Romelu Lukaku joined Inter Milan from Manchester United in the summer for a club record fee of £67m. Although the Belgium international quickly found his feet in Italy, and made a name for himself. However, after a Champions League test against Slavia Prague back in September, things changed as Conte wasn’t so accepting of any set backs or mistakes.
Goals from Peter Olayinka and Nicolo Barella saw the points shared as Lukaku drew a blank on his first European appearance for his new side, and Antonio Conte wasn’t in a forgiving mood.
The 26-year-old was the subject of some scathing criticism from the former Chelsea boss, but he has since admitted that he gave a poor performance.
He told Sky Sports: “I played very badly and, in front of the whole team in the dressing room.
“Conte told me that I was rubbish. He is honest, says things directly on the load, whether good or bad. He said that if I had that attitude again, I would be replaced after five minutes.”
“Despite having reached my confidence, it also served as a ‘wake-up call’ for me. He treats everyone the same, whoever he is” the Belgium striker added.
Lukaku went on to redeem himself by scoring in the return leg against Prague and against Barcelona. Unfortunately the goals weren’t enough as Inter have now shift their focus to Serie A after they were eliminated from the competition.
The former Manchester United striker has managed 14 league goals in just 19 starts which has included doubles against Sassuolo, Bologna, Genoa and Napoli.
“I heard people say Lukaku was a donkey… I heard all sorts not even that long ago!” said Conte after the victory of Lazio earlier this month. It’s easy to speak highly of Lukaku now, but if we look back to a few weeks ago… I always said Romelu was a rough diamond that needed work to smooth him out.”
“I wanted Romelu very strongly when I was at Chelsea, even back at Juventus. I wanted him, now I can get to work on polishing the diamond “ the Italian Boss added.
Lukaku then added: “I am really happy with the way we are doing at the moment, but we can do much better.”
“It’s important to have a great leader like Antonio Conte on the bench and for a young squad, it’s crucial to have someone with so much experience.”
Inter sit four points behind leaders Juventus having won 14 of their 20 outings, and they will be looking to close that gap with a win over Cagliari at the San Siro on Sunday.
