Romelu Lukaku tells Lautaro Martinez to SNUB Chelsea transfer as he will return to play with him at Inter Milan
ROMELU LUKAKU has revealed that he would urge former strike partner Lautaro Martinez to snub potential interest from Chelsea.
As the Belgian would rather team up with the Argentine again at Inter Milan.
Lukaku, 28, has delivered a bombshell interview to Sky Sport Italia - criticising Thomas Tuchel's tactics and admitting that he's not happy at Stamford Bridge.
The £97.5m summer signing misses playing with Martinez - but doesn't want him to follow him to Chelsea.
He said: "I miss Lautaro Martinez, I could die on the pitch for him since day one I met him.
"Lautaro Martinez coming here with me at Chelsea in the future?
"No… Lautaro, you can stay in Milan, I'll be back there (laughs)."
Martinez was linked with a move to Spurs in the summer.
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But he didn't follow Lukaku to the Premier League, instead extending his contract with Inter.
The striker has admitted that Chelsea were his fallback option when he felt he had to leave Inter.
He said: "There are three teams at top level: Barcelona, Real, Bayern.
"All the players dream of them, that's the truth. I thought I was going to one of those clubs after Inter.
"This didn’t happened and I said: there is only one club where I can imagine myself, it's Chelsea."
In that case I would have stayed at Inter 100 per cent last summer! No need to discuss that
Romelu Lukaku
Asked if he'd have stayed at Inter and snubbed the Blues if he'd been offered a new contract, he replied: "Yes."
He then added: "In that case I would have stayed at Inter 100 per cent last summer! No need to discuss that.
"Then Conte left, then (Achraf) Hakimi, the club was rumoured to be in trouble…"
On whether he still keeps up with Inter's progress, he said: "Always. I always watch Inter games, always, always, always, always.
"I look at them all, when Inter touch you it's something different."
Lukaku then reiterated his wish that he'd stayed at Inter in the summer, admitting: "If there had been the offer of a new contract from Inter last summer as I wanted… we would not be doing this interview now here from London, but quietly from Milano."
Chelsea fans can console themselves with the fact he preferred a move to Stamford Bridge over Manchester City.
He revealed: "“In summer 2020 I turned down an offer from Manchester City. It was a higher offer than Chelsea's one.
Yeah I don’t like it of course because it brings noise that we don’t need and it is not helpful
Thomas Tuchel
"I refused because I couldn't leave Inter after just one year - it's the club that saved my career when I was feeling bad at Manchester United."
Chelsea boss Tuchel has been left deeply unhappy by Lukaku's comments.
He said: "Yeah I don’t like it of course because it brings noise that we don’t need and it is not helpful.
"But on the other side we don’t want to make more of it than it actually is.
"You know very well how it is to take lines out of context, it is very easy to shorten lines, make headlines and then later realise that it is not so bad and maybe not what he meant.
"But let’s be honest, we don’t like it, I don’t like it, because it’s noise that we don’t need. We need a calm environment and focus and it does not help."
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When asked if he had discussed matters with Lukaku, Tuchel added: "Not at all, I don’t feel him unhappy. I feel the exact opposite.
"If you had asked me yesterday morning I would say I feel the exact opposite, that’s why it is a surprise, but I am the wrong person to ask."
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