{"id":291977,"date":"2023-10-11T16:27:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T16:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291977"},"modified":"2023-10-11T16:27:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T16:27:15","slug":"romelu-lukaku-lifts-the-lid-on-his-nightmare-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/romelu-lukaku-lifts-the-lid-on-his-nightmare-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Romelu Lukaku lifts the lid on his nightmare summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>&#8216;At times I thought I might explode&#8217;: Romelu Lukaku lifts the lid on his nightmare summer after falling out with Inter Milan and being banished by Chelsea before snubbing Saudi Arabia to join Roma<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lukaku returned to Chelsea after a year-long loan in Serie A with Inter Milan\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><b>The 30-year-old saw moves to Inter and Juventus breakdown before Roma<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Romelu Lukaku\u00a0has hinted at the &#8216;shocking&#8217; reality he faced after returning from a loan spell with Inter Milan and finding no place in new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino&#8217;s plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Roma forward saw proposed moves to Inter and Juventus break down before eventually agreeing to join Jose Mourinho&#8217;s side after being forced to train away from the Blues&#8217; first team squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old, who has notched an impressive seven goals in eight games since moving to the Italian capital, was tight-lipped on the details of his ordeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But was comfortable letting his displeasure with the events be known while speaking to reporters ahead of Belgium&#8217;s EURO qualifers against Austria and Sweden.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Most people in this room know me. You know that I don\u2019t like to beat around the bush,&#8217; he said. &#8216;I will speak when the time is right, but if I told you how things really went last summer, everyone would be shocked.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/15\/76431593-12619251-image-a-26_1697035180449.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Romelu Lukaku has hinted at the &#8216;shocking&#8217; reality he faced after returning from a loan spell with Inter Milan last summer<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/15\/76430421-12619251-image-a-23_1697033648697.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino had no plans to intergrate Lukaku into his first team squad<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/15\/76431409-12619251-image-a-24_1697034999893.jpg\" height=\"378\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Lukaku missed a huge chance to keep Inter Champions League hopes alive against Man City<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There were moments when I felt like I could explode and five years ago I probably would\u2019ve done.\u00a0Now I am concentrated only on what I can do best, which is playing football. I worked hard all summer.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Lukaku came in for major criticism for his lacklustre cameo in Inter&#8217;s 1-0 Champions League final defeat to Manchester City when he squandered the best oppurtunity for the underdogs. And inadvertently blocked an effort on goal by his team-mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The former Manchester United striker alluded to issues in the build-up, which he also refused to elaborate on, that appear to have played a crucial role in his decision to reject a permenant return to the San Siro and instead pursue a controversial switch to rivals Juventus.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I was a bit uncomfortable after the Champions League Final,&#8217; he added. &#8216;But my mind was troubled because of what happened in the days leading up to it. I will talk about that later.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Lukaku also had the chance to join the raft of high-profile players signing up for the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia. He was sought after by\u00a0Al-Hilal, who later got their hands on Neymar, but decided he still had the desire to compete in European football.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He continued: &#8216;I was honoured by their interest, but after the conversations we had, I was not completely convinced.\u00a0The league will become one of the biggest in the world, but I didn\u2019t want to leave Europe yet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I knew full well what was going to happen this summer and there were a few clubs I certainly would not go to. Ultimately, you have to consider what happened in recent years on a football and personal level, which is why I made my choice.<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/15\/73294851-12619251-Juvetus_fans_made_their_feelings_clear_about_Romelu_Lukaku_as_th-a-25_1697035078469.jpg\" height=\"359\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Juvetus fans made their feelings clear about Romelu Lukaku as they gathered outside the club&#8217;s medical centre to chant that they &#8216;don&#8217;t want&#8217; him<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/15\/76430411-12619251-image-a-22_1697033645275.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Lukaku has been\u00a0full of praise for Mourinho, who he believes has been key to his early success<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I don\u2019t like to talk too much off the field, but sometimes it\u2019s good to tell people what really happened and what didn\u2019t.&#8217; he added. &#8216;I will one day, but not now because I want to keep the focus on my football. When I say things, they are taken out of context and I don\u2019t want that right now.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not the first time Lukaku has aluded to difficulties with his former employers since linking up Mourinho for the third time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after his brace in the weekend&#8217;s 4-1 win over newly-promoted Cagliari, Lukaku called out those who had talked about his conditioning and suggested his form demonstrated the work he had put in over the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He was also full of praise for Mourinho, who he believes has been key to his early-season success.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;As I have said in the past, the coach and I have a special relationship,&#8217; he said. &#8216;He knows my family, he knows my children: he is someone I trust, as he has in me. He is also tough, as other coaches have been in the past, but it&#8217;s the only way I can grow as a player.&#8217;<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12619251\/There-times-thought-explode-Romelu-Lukaku-lifts-lid-nightmare-summer-falling-Inter-Milan-banished-Chelsea-rejecting-Saudi-Arabia-Roma.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>&#8216;At times I thought I might explode&#8217;: Romelu Lukaku lifts the lid on his nightmare summer after falling out with Inter Milan and being banished <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/romelu-lukaku-lifts-the-lid-on-his-nightmare-summer\/\" title=\"Romelu Lukaku lifts the lid on his nightmare summer\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - 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