Romelu Lukaku spent two seasons with Manchester United following a big-money move from Everton and it appears the striker wasn’t particularly sold on Old Trafford after all
Jose Mourinho and Romelu Lukaku
Jose Mourinho convinced Romelu Lukaku to move to Manchester United
Romelu Lukaku has claimed that he never wanted a move to Manchester United but was swayed by his agent. The Belgian striker signed for the Red Devils in 2017 in a £75m deal.
His switch came after a prolific spell with Everton having scored 87 goals in 166 appearances for the Toffees. And things started well for Lukaku at Old Trafford having scored 27 goals across his debut campaign.
But things soon went awry having fallen out of favour during his second season, while he found the net just 15 times. Lukaku was eventually sold to Italian giants Inter Milan.
The forward has now admitted that he was never clamouring for a move to United and instead wanted to return to former club Chelsea, only for then agent Mino Raiola and Jose Mourinho to convince him otherwise.
Speaking to Koolcast Sport via Het Nieuwsblad, the now Napoli forward said: “I had already told everyone: I’m going to Chelsea. But suddenly Mourinho called me to say that Manchester United had made an offer.
“I came back from vacation and suddenly there was an agreement with Everton. I said to Mino: ‘I don’t want this’, and then I decided now I’m doing everything myself.”
After his exit from United, Lukaku managed to rediscover his goalscoring form, scoring 64 goals over two seasons before he eventually got his much-desired move to Chelsea. He was allowed to leave after just one season though, rejoining Inter on loan before a spell with Roma.
Lukaku is now with another Italian side in the form of Napoli and helped the side to the Serie A title last term. Ironically, he could have ended up in Italy even earlier before he completed a permanent move to Everton, something that made him question his trust in agents.
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku had a mixed spell at Old Trafford(Image: Getty Images)
“It actually started in 2014. I signed with Everton at the time, but I could also go to Juventus, Wolfsburg and Atlético. That didn’t happen,” Lukaku added.
“I ended up at Everton, no problem, but when I saw certain figures in my contract, I thought: something’s not right here. I started digging and then everything came out. A year later, De Bruyne moved to Manchester City and also started discovering everything. And then everything came out in the media.”
Lukaku remains under contract with Napoli until 2027 and is set to be reunited with Kevin De Bruyne in Naples next season. Asked about the role he played, he said: “I spoke to him a few times and explained to him how things work at Napoli. I’m very happy that he’s joining us. Kevin is exactly what we need to take the next step. We don’t just want to defend the title – we want to improve.”
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