Ex-Chelsea star Romelu Lukaku slams ex-club for using ‘press relationships’ to ‘convey wrong image’
Napoli forward Romelu Lukaku has hit out at Chelsea, accusing the Premier League giants of using “press relationships” to “convey the wrong image”.
The 31-year-old had two spells at Chelsea and failed on each occasion. He did not score in 15 appearances after joining from Anderlecht in 2011 but scored for fun at West Brom, Everton and Man Utd in the Premier League.
The Blues invested around £97.5m to re-sign Lukaku from Inter Milan ahead of the 2021/22 campaign after he scored 64 goals in 95 appearances over two seasons for the Serie A giants.
This deal contributes to Chelsea being the runaway leader of our Premier League net spend table and he struggled to settle in as he butted heads with Thomas Tuchel.
Lukaku scored 15 goals in 44 outings for Chelsea but returned to Inter Milan on loan after only a single season at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgium international had loans at Inter Milan and AS Roma before he joined Napoli permanently ahead of this season. He has nine goals in his 27 appearances this term.
Reflecting on his time at Chelsea, Lukaku claims his former club made his life very difficult as he looked to leave as “they wear you out”.
“[Chelsea] says [said] I don’t want you anymore and decides when and often where you will end up,” Lukaku said.
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“But if you want to leave, and for serious reasons, you don’t have the chance to do so. They take you to the last minute, they wear you out.”
He added: “The clubs have relationships with the press and it doesn’t take much to put the player in difficulty, to convey the wrong image.
“Believe me, I’ve seen things I never thought I’d see. One day, I’d like to clarify all these aspects to the younger players, explaining who works for them and who works against them.”
Lukaku also claims the English public and media “had the wrong perception” of him after he was often labelled “lazy”.
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He continued: “In England, they had the wrong perception. For them, I was lazy. And I never reacted to attacks, to criticism. I speak very little, I let things happen.
“I’m someone who does his job and then goes home to his children. In Italy, the judgment has turned 180 degrees. I am a worker.”
The 31-year-old also revealed that he was made to train inside the youth dressing room at Chelsea.
He said: “The first time I wasn’t alone, Aubameyang and Ziyech were also outside the Chelsea project.
“They made us change in the youth locker room. We waited for weeks, giving up numerous options. Last summer I knew I would come to Naples.”