Romelu Lukaku has described his time at Manchester United as a period he was in a “deep hole” in his attempt to make peace with the supporters of Inter Milan.
The 28-year-old Belgian striker was seen as the new Didier Drogba when Chelsea first signed him from RSC Anderlecht on August 8, 2011, for a transfer fee worth €15 million.
Unfortunately for him, he could not establish himself at the club and had to be sold to Everton on July 30, 2014, for a transfer fee worth €35.36 million.
Romelu Lukaku had the best time of his Premier League career at Everton and his brilliance attracted the attention of Manchester United. The Manchester club paid Everton €84.70 million for the services of the Belgian striker on July 10, 2017.
While at United, he struggled to gain the respect of the coaches. Things got so bad for him under Ole Gunnar Solskjær that he had to look for a way out of the club.
Amid his poor relationship with the coaching crew at Manchester United, Lukaku was able to score 42 goals and provided 13 assists.
Despite such a performance, he was still not a favorite of coach Solskjaer. When it became obvious that things won’t get better for Lukaku at Old Trafford, Inter Milan paid United a whopping €74 million for the services of the Belgian international.
In his two seasons at Inter Milan, the Belgian international scored 64 goals and provided 16 assists in 95 games. He helped the club to win the Italian Serie A title for the first time in 10 years.
Earlier in the summer when speculations started making the rounds that some top clubs were interested in Lukaku, the Belgian striker claimed that he would stick with Inter Milan.
However, the 28-year-old striker decided to tell the club he was ready to go after Chelsea made a third bid for his services. He returned to Chelsea for a transfer fee worth €115 million on August 12, 2021.
“I only realized that Chelsea were serious when they made their third offer,” Lukaku told HLN.
“First they offered €100m (£85m). Then €105m (£90m), €105m plus [Marcos] Alonso. Then they offered €110m (£94.2m) plus [Davide] Zappacosta, but Inter said no…
“I didn’t want to go behind Inter’s back. They got me out of the s***. I was in a deep hole at Man United.
“After training, I went to [Simone] Inzaghi’s office. I didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere because I was no longer with my head in Milan. So I asked him: please find an agreement.”
It is left to see whether this Lukaku’s attempt to appease Inter Milan’s fans would make any impact. Recall that when he exited the club in August, one of the biggest Inter Milan supporters’ clubs, Curva Nord, described Lukaku’s return to Chelsea as a sign of greed.
The group shared a message to Lukaku on Facebook that read: “Dear Lukaku, we expected more honest and transparent behavior from you.
“But, despite the fact we protected you like a son, like one of us, you too proved yourself to be just like all the rest, going to your knees for money. We wish you the best, even if greed doesn’t always pay.”
Lukaku is currently on international duty with Belgium. He will be in action against the Czech Republic at 19:45 today, September 5, 2021. He will also be in action on September 8 against Belarus.
Matchday-1 @BelRedDevils pic.twitter.com/P8XuLgIqK3
— R.Lukaku Bolingoli9 (@RomeluLukaku9) September 4, 2021
After the two Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Lukaku is expected to return to Chelsea to play against Aston Villa on September 11. He has scored a goal in two Premier League games so far this season.
