Romelu Lukaku spoke about the surprising challenges he encountered this summer, such as his spell at Inter and his time at Chelsea.

The current Roma star practiced with the reserve team for the Blues before agreeing to join Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Before this, he had attempted to return to Inter and also move to Juventus. Both transfers fell through.

The Belgian forward played with the Nerazzurri on loan for the previous 2022-23 season. How Lukaku departed the club for the second time was, to put it mildly, contentious.

Simone Inzaghi’s side was negotiating a permanent deal. At the same time, the 30-year-old was in talks to join rivals, Juventus. Thus, all communication between the club and the veteran player was cut off.

No future under Pochettino as well

After some back and forth, Lukaku was then loaned to Roma, where he has gotten off to a strong start in the Italian capital. Keep in mind that only two years ago, Chelsea spent a then-record $119 million for the prolific striker.

He never quite felt at home in London again, and after speaking out in an unapproved interview about his dissatisfaction with the Blues’ methods, he offended then-manager Thomas Tuchel.

Even with the arrival of new manager Mauricio Pochettino this summer, he returned from a loan at the Giuseppe Meazza with the understanding that he had no future at Stamford Bridge. As a result, Fabrizio Romano claims the Blues are expected to sell him for approximately $45 million in the coming summer.

Lukaku speaks on summer with both Inter and Chelsea

Now that Lukaku has addressed the press while away on international duty, the questions have inevitably turned to the mayhem that was pre-season.

“Most people in this room know me. You know that I don’t like to beat around the bush,” he said. “I will speak when the time is right, but if I told you how things really went last summer, everyone would be shocked.

“There were moments when I felt like I could explode and five years ago I probably would’ve done. Now I am concentrated only on what I can do best, which is playing football. I worked hard all summer.

“I was a bit uncomfortable [at Inter] after the Champions League final. But my mind was troubled because of what happened in the days leading up to it. I will talk about that later.”

Lukaku maintained that he would speak his mind when the time was right.

“I don’t like to talk too much off the field, but sometimes it’s good to tell people what really happened and what didn’t. I will one day, but not now because I want to keep the focus on my football. When I say things, they are taken out of context and I don’t want that right now.”

PHOTO: IMAGO / Photo News