With Romelu Lukaku returning to Inter training for the first time today, Richard Hall looks at why most Nerazzurri fans have already forgiven Big Rom for his move to Chelsea.
“The Curva Nord supports Inter and will not make any objection to the player (despite last summer’s behaviour). Given this, no one should go to welcome him with scarves or banners of the Curva or of the groups that it has.”
The message from Curva Nord was clear. They did not want the returning striker to be given a hero’s welcome. They wanted his return to be understated, not celebrated, they wanted him to creep back to Milan like a scolded child.
Once back, Lukaku would have to earn the respect of the fans by scoring goals, then they may applaud him again. After all, the wound of him leaving for Chelsea was still deep and the hardcore element of Inter’s fan base are proud and feel that it is an honour to play for the club. They believe in loyalty and that he should not stroll back in as nothing has happened.
The message from the Curva was heard and yet by a majority of fans, it was completely ignored. After learning that the Belgian striker was returning on a year-long loan (that will probably end in a second or a transfer next summer), the fans were elated. He had left for €113m and returned for a loan deal costing them 6.9m. Even the Ultras could not argue that this was a Beppe Marotta master class and a deal that saw all of Europe raise an eyebrow.
It was an unavoidable and humiliating defeat for Chelsea, especially as Romelu had been so instrumental in making this come to be. He had publicly courted his old club almost from the moment he landed in London. The move felt so surreal it almost sounded like it was a master plan.
Perhaps, even the most ardent Ultra would have to admit that having him back is a benefit. It simply cannot be seen otherwise. The statement from the Ultras almost shows this, they could have said that they would boo him, call him a traitor and vilify him, but they didn’t. They want him back, however, there is a lot of pride in these groups and they needed to show that they are thought what he did was wrong. Secretly, they will be ecstatic from a footballing point of view as there is no argument that this move makes Inter so much stronger.
First of all, there is the ‘Lu-la’ effect. The relationship he has with Lautaro Martinez is dynamic and the bromance that these two had in the Scudetto winning season was phenomenal. The link-up play was exceptional and they terrorised defences with power, pace and strength.
Secondly, the psychological impact on other teams will be immense. The Belgian is a player that teams are scared of, he has proved himself at Inter and he is a big-game player. This will be a massive advantage for the Nerazzurri in the coming games.
There will be questions, however. Can he play under Simone Inzaghi? Will he have the same impact after a year at Chelsea? Surely, there are many more positives than negatives and there is excitement building in Milan. Inter needed to sell an asset last summer (and so they do in the current transfer window), but Lukaku wanted a return to Chelsea and many Ultras may only forgive him once they see him score his first couple of goals for the Nerazzurri. On the other hand, most Inter fans have already absolved the striker for his sudden departure less than a year ago.
Big Rom will need to win over the Curva, but a man who scored 64 goals in 95 games in his last spell in Milan will find no issues doing that. In December, when Romelu hinted that he wanted to come back to Inter, the Ultras left a banner saying: ‘It doesn’t really matter who runs away in the rain, it counts who stays in the storm, bye Romelu’. Well, he is back and whilst he may not have stayed in the storm, he has certainly lifted the clouds.
@RichHall80