Romelu Lukaku was upset with Antonio Conte’s departure from Inter and suggested that he didn’t leave the club for the money.
The 28-year-old Belgian striker caused controversy after a recent interview with Sky Sports released yesterday where he stated that he was “not happy with the situation” following his €115m move to Chelsea in the summer. The rest of that interview has now been released today.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Lukaku first discussed his departure from Inter and why he left the Milanese club.
“When Conte told me that he wanted to leave, I was disappointed. Then Hakimi also left and there were rumours about the difficulties of the clubs. But I knew that with Inzaghi there was still a chance of winning the Scudetto again, my brother has always spoken well of him.
“He and his staff have been real men with me. I was annoyed that the directors didn’t even try to renew my contract, in which case I would have stayed 100%. But I didn’t leave for the money, it’s a challenge to return to England where I didn’t win.”
He spoke highly of Argentinian forward Lautaro Martinez, noting that “Lautaro is the best teammate I’ve had. Will he join me at Chelsea? No, he’ll stay in Milan and I’ll come back.”
The 28-year-old Belgian forward confirmed that he would never join Inter’s rivals Juventus and Milan.
“Never! I was angry with my agent when he told me about Juve, in Italy for me there is only Inter and it has always been like that.
“I only spoke to the Bianconeri when I didn’t have an offer from Inter yet, then I waited for Zhang until the end. And I had told Manchester United that I would have said no even if Juve’s offer had been higher than Inter’s.”
The Chelsea forward touched on his former teammate Christian Eriksen and his collapse during a Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Finland.
“It was a difficult moment, it really hurt. The game with Denmark at the European Championship was the most difficult I’ve played in my career.
“I hope he can start his normal life again, it’s not important whether he still plays football or not. Christian doesn’t talk much, but he’s a golden man and has been very important for us.”
Finally, Lukaku discussed his former Inter teammates and how important the Nerazzurri are to him.
“My teammates at Inter are brothers for life, in the last two years I have spent more time with them than with my family. Some of them understood that by provoking me, they were p*ssing me off and driving me crazy on the pitch.
“Especially Barella, he’s the worst of them all in that sense. But also Handanovic, Brozovic and Sensi. I always follow Inter and watch all the games on TV, when Inter touches you something different is triggered inside.”