Lukaku: Chelsea offered two players in €100m-plus transfer; I was in the ‘sh*t’ at Man Utd
Romelu Lukaku says Chelsea offered two players in exchange for him at Inter Milan before the Blues finally agreed to pay €115m to re-sign the striker.
Lukaku says he did not realise Chelsea were so serious about him until he learned of a number of offers.
The returning Chelsea forward has admitted he pleaded with Inter to let him return to the Premier League despite holding plenty of respect for the Serie A giants.
Lukaku, 28, was just as eager to return to the capital as Chelsea were of getting the Belgium striker back on board. The £97.5m spent on the former Everton striker took the transfer fees, excluding loans, spent on him to around £285m.
Manchester United spent £75m of that on a deal to bring him to Old Trafford from Everton in July 2017. And he admits to being in a “deep hole” at United.
Still, despite being thankful to Inter he did have his heart set on a transfer to Chelsea – a deal which eventually happened.
Chelsea though first tried to offer Marcos Alonso and then Davide Zappacosta.
Alonso remains at Stamford Bridge and has started all three of Chelsea’s Premier League games to date. Fellow defender Zappacosta has though departed to Atalanta for a fee of €10m.
Speaking on international duty, Lukaku revealed the details of Chelsea’s approaches.
“I only realised that Chelsea were serious when they made their third offer. First they offered €100m. Then €105m, €105m plus Alonso. Then they offered €110m plus Zappacosta, but Inter said no,” Lukaku told HLN.
“I didn’t want to go behind Inter’s back. They got me out of the shit. I was in a deep hole at Man United. After training I went to 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.”
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) September 4, 2021
“I didn’t want to go behind Inter’s back. They got me out of the sh*t. I was in a deep hole at Manchester United.
“After training I went to [head coach 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.”
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Lukaku: Euro 2020 defeat hurt
Lukaku also revealed it was no surprise to see his Belgium side eliminated at Euro 2020 in the quarter-finals.
The number one FIFA-ranked side were one of the favourites to win the European Championship, but they were beaten by eventual winners Italy 2-1 in the last eight.
“Eden wasn’t fit, Kevin had an operation… If we’d become European champions, it would only be because we would have lost every match,” added Lukaku.
“During the tournament I already saw small signals, which made it clear that it was going to be difficult. Italy had outclassed us tactically, but also technically. That especially hurt.”
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