Legendary former Inter goalkeeper Walter Zenga has compared Romelu Lukaku’s departure from Inter and his decision to talk to Juventus to Luis Figo’s move from Barcelona to Real Madrid in the year 2000.
Lukaku had been widely tipped to rejoin Inter on a permanent basis following his spell back on loan from Chelsea during the 2022-23 season, but just as Inter were preparing to finalise the move, they discovered that the 30-year-old had also been in discussions with Juve.
It is a situation which has baffled many, including Zenga, who thinks that the whole ordeal has been a ‘massive disappointment.
Asked in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport if he could remember anything like it previously, Zenga replied: “No, I don’t remember. Maybe Figo from Barca to Real.”
Having met the former Manchester United striker personally and getting along with him, Zenga feels even more let down by Lukaku’s antics over the last few days.
“When I met him, he seemed to me to be a different character altogether. (The last few days) therefore, have been a massive disappointment. Especially after what he had previously said in a very heartfelt interview: ‘Never at Juve.’
“Days and days of negotiations with Chelsea, only to find out that in the meantime Lukaku or someone on his behalf had spoken to Milan and Juve, to find out from Chelsea that there is an offer from Juve is just wasted time,” he explained.
“I read that in Turin, the fans aren’t exactly jumping for joy. Vlahovic could always say ‘I’m not leaving’, but as an insider I would say, when you leave a team, you feel bad, but then it’s over. Then, you become interested in the next move, the next destination.”
Above all, it is Lukaku’s decision to not respond to Inter’s calls during the day on Friday which has been most disappointing for Zenga, who couldn’t get his head around the lack of professionalism.
“But say it first, right? Was there really a need to disappear like that, to not even reply to your colleagues? I have always looked people in the eye and have never run away.
“Wouldn’t it have been enough if, the day after the end of the season, to say: ‘It was nice, but I’m going elsewhere’? Maybe they would have even thanked him, and remained friends like before.”
For the time being, Lukaku remains a Chelsea player, but Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly keen to shift him as quickly as possible, as he is not part of the team’s plans for the 2023-24 season.