🤬 Lukaku saga? Not the first time! Big Rom, absences and betrayals... 👀 | OneFootball

Romelu Lukaku is back in the spotlight. In recent days, the Big Rom case has erupted, with the player not joining up with the Belgian national team, preferring to protect himself ahead of the final stretch of the season. On top of that, he also decided not to return to Naples, where he was supposed to train with the teammates who stayed behind, choosing instead to remain in Antwerp with his mother and children.

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The Neapolitan club did not appreciate it and decided to fine the 1993-born player, informing him that when training resumes on Tuesday (tomorrow), they expect to see their center-forward there as well, or face exclusion from the squad. This morning, Big Rom’s response arrived, as he explained his reasons through an Instagram story. 

A real soap opera, in short. But what has happened in recent days is only the latest in a series of situations in which the Belgian has clashed with his club. In the past, it had already happened during his time at United, then Chelsea, and finally Inter.

👋 2019, he goes to train with another club

August 2019, and we are at the end of Lukaku’s spell at Manchester United, who had paid 85 million euros just two years earlier to sign him from Chelsea. A five-year contract for what, in the Red Devils’ plans, was supposed to be the striker around whom to build a title-winning team.

Reality turned out very differently, and not only because of him. Having fallen to the fringes of Solskjaer’s project, Big Rom decides to leave and, to force United’s hand, travels to Belgium to train with Anderlecht. The Manchester club does not comment on their striker’s choice, but a few days later they accept Inter’s offer. Lukaku thus leaves Old Trafford after 42 goals in 96 appearances. 

🎤 The Chelsea interview

Two years pass after the Manchester episode and, once again, a Premier League club is involved. Lukaku has moved to Inter and — after two seasons in which, together with Conte, he brought the Scudetto back to Milan — he has returned to Chelsea, the club he supported as a child and from which United had signed him. A record sale for the Nerazzurri, who collect 113 million euros from the Blues.

In London, however, the feeling with coach Tuchel never really develops. Just four months after arriving at Stamford Bridge, Lukaku gives an interview to Sky Sport, in which he explicitly promises Inter that he will return. As was only to be expected, Chelsea do not appreciate it, but at the end of the year they let him leave on loan. Where to? Well, Inter.

😱 The betrayal of the Nerazzurri

This brings us to his return to Italy. Inter’s season has two faces: extremely difficult in the league (12 defeats), but thrilling in the Champions League, where only Guardiola’s far better-equipped City manage to stop Inzaghi’s men in the final.

Despite a difficult personal season for Lukaku (just 14 goals in all competitions), Inter decide to open talks with Chelsea to sign the player permanently, for a fee close to 40 million. Done deal? Not at all, because Lukaku... disappears!

After days of waiting, during which the Nerazzurri’s number 90 does not answer calls from his teammates or sporting director Ausilio, it becomes clear that Juventus are behind the striker’s move, seemingly having convinced Big Rom to betray his Inter. The runners-up in Europe are thus out of the race, which, however, will soon also be abandoned by the Bianconeri. At the end of the transfer window, then, Lukaku has no choice but to pick Roma, effectively losing the chance to play in the Champions League. 

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 CARLO HERMANN - AFP or licensors