Romelu Lukaku used his bombshell Sky Sports Italia interview to tell old Inter Milan team-mate Lautaro Martinez not to sign for Chelsea, and to ‘stay in Milan… I’ll be back there’, it has emerged.
In new footage released today, a laughing Lukaku jokes the strike partner he would ‘die for’ is best off staying in Serie A, after revealing his own desire to return to Italy amid his ‘unhappiness’ at Chelsea.
After initial clips of the interview showed the Belgium international admitting he was not happy with life at his new club, further footage has only served to strengthen that view – with Lukaku also claiming he wanted to stay in Italy in the summer.
Romelu Lukaku smiles while speaking to Sky Sports Italia about his future earlier this month
Lukaku has joked that he will be back at Inter Milan to partner with Lautaro Martinez (right)
Speaking about his departure last summer, Lukaku said: ‘Last summer I went to talk to the Inter board and I asked for a new contract. I said: “I’m 28, I wanted to plan my life in Italy with a new deal”… but Inter said no. Maybe there wasn’t the economic possibility. For me it was difficult to accept.
Asked if he would have stayed at the San Siro if he had been offered a new deal, the striker nodded twice and stated: ‘Yes’.
‘If there had been the offer of a new contract from Inter last summer as I wanted… we would not be doing this interview now here from London, but quietly from Milan,’ he added.
Further on in the interview, he was asked about his Inter strike partner Martinez.
Lukaku has given an interview where he has described his unhappiness at Chelsea
The Belgium international has claimed he wanted to stay in Italy with Inter instead of moving
‘I miss Lautaro Martinez, I could die on the pitch for him since day one I met him,’ he said.
‘Lautaro Martinez coming here with me at Chelsea in the future? No… Lautaro, you can stay in Milan, I’ll be back there,’ he added while laughing.
In the initially released clips, Lukaku stated that he was ‘not happy’ with his situation at Stamford Bridge after just four months at the club.
He also insisted that he is planning a return to Inter after leaving the Serie A champions in a £98million deal in the summer.
Lukaku says he is still willing to work with Thomas Tuchel to resolve his issues at Chelsea
Chelsea boss Tuchel was less than impressed by Lukaku’s bombshell interview on Italian TV
And those snippets have been backed up by the rest of the interview, after it aired on Friday.
Despite insisting that he is willing to work with Thomas Tuchel in order to resolve his current issues at Chelsea, the overbearing theme of the interview was of a player looking for greener pastures.
Tuchel cut a less than impressed figure on Friday morning when he spoke to the press ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Liverpool on January 2.
He told reporters that the striker had upset the ‘calm and focus’ in the dressing room with his comments, and insisted that he did not like the interview, describing it as ‘not helpful’.
Lukaku did appear to qualify his initial comments, which were made three weeks ago while he was still working his way back into first-team action after an ankle injury, suggesting that he does see a future for himself in west London.
Chelsea’s £98million summer signing had said he is ‘not happy with the situation’ at Chelsea
‘Tuchel and I are trying to find a tactical system where we can “find” each other – a way to help the team because the situation [PL table] is a bit complicated,’ he is reported as saying in the full interview, as tweeted by journalist Fabrizio Romano.
‘He made his choice – I keep working, at a certain point I’ll speak with Tuchel and we will see the situation.’
The impact of the extraordinary interview has been severe for Chelsea, with the story dominating Friday’s press conference.
Despite the apparent breakdown between player and club, it does not appear that it will lead to an imminent parting of ways.
According to the Telegraph, the striker has no intention of leaving Stamford Bridge next month despite claiming he is unhappy there. Sources close to the player told the publication that there was ‘zero chance’ of him moving away.
Tuchel said on Friday morning that the Belgium international had upset the ‘calm’ at the club
It is clear though that Lukaku will have many bridges to build to get back on good terms with Tuchel.
Lukaku has struggled for goals and games on his return to Stamford Bridge, starting just eight Premier League matches and scoring just five times in 13 appearances in the competition.
He has had two spells out – one with an ankle injury and the other due to coronavirus – but has struggled to impose himself as an integral part of the starting XI.
When asked about the interview in his press conference, Tuchel said: ‘We don’t like it of course. It brings noise that we don’t need and it’s not helpful.
‘We don’t want to make more out of it than it actually is. It is easy to take lines out of context, shorten lines, make headlines and then realise later that it is not so bad and maybe not what he meant.
‘We don’t like it, I don’t like it because it’s noise that we don’t need. We need a calm environment and focus and this does not help.’
