Lukaku: 'Juventus were close to signing me but it was always Inter'
- Apollo Heyes
First, the 26-year-old Belgian forward talked about the Coronavirus emergency and his personal experience in the quarantine.
“I almost went out of my mind one day. I can't go out, I can't go shopping. I'm locked up. Now it's been nine days since the lockdown started. They got me an exercise bike, all the players live in the city centre, I had no room, so I asked in our group chat who had a bike. After two hours they brought a bike to everyone. I miss the daily routine, being with my mom, being with my son or my brother. I'm thinking about everyone. It's bad, you can't have normal contact with human beings. I miss training and playing in front of the fans. Now you're starting to appreciate what you have. I'm a lucky guy, these moments are making me rethink what I went through as a kid and you, Ian, know my past better than anyone.”
Lukaku spoke further on the Coronavirus contagion and the threat his mother is under.
“You have to be careful, you might touch someone who has the virus and then go home. My mom has diabetes, so I can't even go home and touch her. My mom's not even going out now, she goes for a quick walk at night and then comes back. I'm with my physical therapist, they bring me food every day, I'm on a very strict regimen. Lunch is on time at noon, I eat fish and vegetables.”
The former Manchester United striker touched on his departure from the Red Devils.
“A bad season can happen to anyone, but for me it was quite a difficult situation. I had to make a decision, I had to go to another place where I could learn new aspects of my game and work with someone who wanted me. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted me to stay, but I told him it was over. He helped me to leave anyway. Manchester United is doing a good job and getting good results, so I wish them nothing but the best. It would have been a childish thing to disrespect Man U or any other club where I played in England.”
Lukaku discussed Juventus’ interest in him, before Inter secured his signature.
“Yes, they were very close. But my mind was always on Inter and their coach. Inter has always been the reference team in Italy for me. When I was a kid, I used to watch Adriano, Ronaldo and Christian Vieri, with whom I have an excellent relationship. The club and the coach wanted me very much, Antonio Conte also wanted me at Chelsea. So, the time had come for me to go there and see, at that moment I just thought about training and getting back into shape, without talking too much. And here at Inter we work hard. And there's also a difference compared to England as far as team spirit is concerned, here in Italy every 2-3 weeks we have group dinners, in which everyone participates. One or two players take turns offering and taking everyone to dinner. We have qualities, but we stand out as a team. If you see how we play, you can see how we are the most aggressive team. The coach also instills this mentality in us, pressing and being aggressive. It's also a question of preparation.”
The Inter striker spoke about the title race against Juventus and Lazio. The Nerazzurri are nine points behind the Bianconeri and eight points behind the Biancocelesti.
“If the season should end, then we should think it's not over until it's over. That's my mentality, until the math says it's over and we still have a shred of hope we have to believe it. Lazio and Juventus can still lose a game, but we have to look to ourselves.”
Finally, Lukaku told a story about Inter coach Antonio Conte and his behaviour in the dressing room.
"The important thing is to be in the right position, the one the coach asks you. After each match, we have video sessions where we examine every day the first half of a match, then the second. And you never fall asleep, because Conte uses diagrams and then you review the diagrams every time, and he always makes you notice if you were in the wrong position or you missed a certain pass, in front of everyone. He did it with me after the match against Slavia Prague, for five minutes he talked about when a defender won a duel against me and celebrated, thumping me in front of everyone. It was the first time it happened to me in ten years of my career, at that moment you either react and start playing well or you throw yourself down, but I couldn't be so childish and I kept on working. A few days later we played against AC Milan and there I played one of the best games of the season. I took that mental step after that criticism in front of everyone.”
Lukaku has made 35 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 2904 minutes. In that time, he’s scored 23 goals and provided five assists.
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