Romelu Lukaku hits out at 'bulls**t' reports during summer transfer saga
- Lukaku joined Roma on loan from Chelsea late in transfer window
- A return to Inter had been expected before talks collapsed suddenly
- Striker rejected a move to Saudi Arabia
By Tom Gott
Romelu Lukaku has confessed there were times during the summer transfer window when he felt he could "explode" over the "bulls**t" that was being published in the media.
After returning to Chelsea following a loan with Inter last summer, Lukaku was put up for sale but failed to attract significant interest and rejected the chance to move permanently to Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal.
It seemed as though a return to Inter was on the cards but the Nerazzurri walked away from negotiations suddenly, citing a betrayal of trust after learning that Lukaku had held talks with Juventus.
Those negotiations with Juventus ultimately went nowhere and Lukaku ended up joining Roma where, under Jose Mourinho, he has struck seven goals in eight games.
It was a particularly turbulent summer for Lukaku, who has now offered an insight into how things went down.
"Was I ever afraid that things wouldn't work out this summer? No, enough people know what qualities I have," he said. "There are just a lot of outsiders who liked to speak on my behalf. A lot of bulls**t has been published.
"Most of the people in the room know me. You know that I don't like to beat around the bush. I will speak in time, but if I really said how it all went last summer, everyone would be shocked.
"What was the biggest nonsense I read? That I was supposedly told I was going to a certain club, but it didn't make any sense.
"There were moments when I could explode. Five years ago I might have done that too, but now I didn't waste any energy on it."
He continued: "It was a difficult season that I had just had, with many injuries, a dramatic World Cup and despite many goals in the competition I had to start all cup or Champions League matches on the bench. You understand that that wasn't the easiest period. Especially the Champions League final.
"I didn't feel good the first few days afterward. Because of the loss and the missed opportunities. I will explain it later, but my thoughts were not there at that moment."
Lukaku rejected the advances of Al Hilal early in the summer and he has now opened up on why he repeatedly declined a move to the Middle East.
"I was very honoured that they thought of me," he said of the interest. "Al Hilal is one of the biggest clubs there. But at the end of the conversations I had a feeling... I understand why players go there - I think the Saudi league will be one of the biggest - but I made a personal choice."
READ THE LATEST NEWS FROM 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS TEAM
feed