Romelu Lukaku is smarting after his Chelsea non-show. Returning to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan, after much fan-fare, The Belgian forward failed to have the desired impact. The London club- under Roman Abramovic’s ownership- shelled out £97.5 million for his services, but it did more harm to Chelsea’s fortunes. The 29-year-old, struggling to fit into Thomas Tuchel’s system, failed to put the club into league-winning contention. After an initial run of games, the German manager dumped him to the bench, making him pine for the bright lights of his San Siro days.
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The new owner Todd Boehly– adhering to Tuchel’s wishes- wasted no time, packing him off to Inter on loan as Chelsea looked to cut their losses. The whole ordeal has left Lukaku hungry for a turnaround. Returning to the blue-and-black of Inter, he wishes to channel his South-London frustrations to the benefit of the Nerazzuris:
“That is a kind of anger that I have inside me. That now the team has it too, which didn’t win last year, all together we hope to do better and bring something home,” quotes Football365.
Reflecting on his Chelsea spell- the second in his career- the forward admitted that things did not work out at the club, leaving him in no doubt that a return to Inter was the way forward:
“So many things. I think before when I left, I wanted to take revenge at Chelsea because when I was young it was my team for 11 years. I had the opportunity to go back there and thought I would be a hero, but that wasn’t the case. In March, when I heard there was an opportunity to come back here, slowly I didn’t say anything, but toward the end of the season we did a very good job with the club and I was able to come back here. I make reflections only at the end of the season, so after the last game, I put myself to think what my situation was. I saw that as a player with Inter I did well, the season at Chelsea for me was difficult. I had no doubts, that’s why I made the decision to come back here.”
The Belgian formed a lethal partnership with Argentine Lauturo Martinez under Antonio Conte, as Inter swept to the Serie A in 2020/21. With Simeone Inzaghi now at the helm, Lukaku wishes to better the chemistry that made them Italy’s most feared strike force:
“I told him he has to do more! We both told each other that we have to do better than before. If we want to achieve team goals, we all have to do better because the other teams have become stronger. I saw right away that his qualities can help me and my qualities can help him. We are not selfish strikers, I know when it is Lautaro’s day and not mine, so I help him and we win and take it home. We want to win even the little matches, we are always on opposite teams because we want to be competitive, but we know that even together we can make a difference for the team,” he concluded.
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With Juventus on the decline, the Serie A might come down to a standoff between derby rivals- Inter and AC Milan. Mourinho’s AS Roma, the forever bridesmaids Napoli, Sarri’s Lazio and Gasperini’s Atalanta are the other contenders.