Chelsea star told to ‘speak or shut up’ after hinting at ‘shocking’ summer treatment
Romelu Lukaku has been told to “speak or shut up” after the Chelsea striker said “everyone would be shocked” by his treatment over the summer, but refused to divulge why.
Lukaku is currenty at Roma after a summer of great speculation over his future, in which he riled a number of clubs interested in signing him, as well as Chelsea, who are desperate to cut their losses over a striker they bought for £100m just over two years ago.
The Belgium international returned to Chelsea in the summer after a season on loan at Inter Milan and appeared set to join the Nerazzurri permanently before their disgust at his decision to talk to Juventus.
A move to the Old Lady didn’t happen either despite talks over a potential swap deal that would have seen Dusan Vlahovic move to Chelsea, and Lukaku rebuffed interest from Saudi Arabia.
Having struggled for form an fitness at Inter last term, Lukaku has rediscovered his shooting boots at Roma, scoring seven goals in eight games in all competitions for Jose Mourinho’s side.
But Lukaku couldn’t resist letting loose about his summer travails while on international duty with Belgium.
He said: “Most of the people here in the room know me. I don’t like beating around the bush.
“I’ll speak in time, but if I actually said how last summer went, everyone would be shocked.
“There were times when I really thought I might explode, five years ago I probably wouldn’t have stood back and done it.
“Now I am focused on what I do best, I know how to play football. I worked hard all summer. I also have to thank Radja Nainggolan for giving me the contact with Roma.”
Former Inter Milan defender Antonio Paganin isn’t at all happy with Lukaku’s comments, and urged the striker to “speak or shut up”.
“I had appreciated the silence up until now,” he said.
“The moment you say, ‘I will speak’, the respect that was there disappears from me. We are certainly missing something, but now either you speak or you shut up.”
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