'There were moments I could explode' - Romelu Lukaku reflects on 'shocking' Chelsea exit before Roma transfer

Romelu Lukaku has reflected on the “shocking” events leading up to his move away from Chelsea in the summer.

The Belgian international eventually left Chelsea on loan for the second successive campaign, this time joining AS Roma under former Blues boss Jose Mourinho.

He spent last season on loan at Inter Milan - the club he previously re-joined Chelsea from for a fee in the region of £100m back in 2021 - before returning to west London in the summer.

Lukaku reportedly nearly signed for Inter permanently following his second spell at the club, but after talks with Juventus, negotiations with both teams fell through.

The striker finally signed for Roma - where he has scored seven goals in eight games - and has now opened up on his Chelsea exit.

“Most of the people in the room know me," he said while on international duty with Belgium.

"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.

“There were moments when I really could explode, five years ago I probably would have done that too. Now I have concentrated on what I can do best – playing football.

“As soon as the negotiations [with Roma] started, I became well-informed about the club, the supporters. I must also thank Radja [Nainggolan, former Roma and Belgium player] who gave me a lot of information.

"I spent a lot of time talking to Jose Mourinho. The rest is work.

“I worked very hard alone this summer to the point of surprising the Roma staff. I was in a positive mindset, I hadn’t played at my true level for two years and I had to do my best to be back. I was lucky to be able to count on great team-mates and staff who helped me.

“It was said that I was going to sign here or there but that was false. I preferred to remain silent - 90 per cent of what was said in the media was false and it was hard to keep my mouth shut.

"I take an example from LeBron James. Every year we hit him. I’m not LeBron but he had the character to always respond and show that he’s there.

“During the summer I saw what people said about me and I trained to be there the day I had to perform. One day I will tell the truth. The others will also have to assume it at that time.”

Another potential destination for Lukaku, who has 121 goals on his CV, was reportedly Saud Arabia club Al-Hilal.

Despite a lucrative offer to join the Middle Eastern side, Lukaku wasn’t ready to leave European football and join up with the likes of Neymar, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Kalidou Koulibaly.

“I was honoured by that interest but after the conversations, I was not completely convinced,” he admitted.

“They are the biggest club in the Middle East and the league there will become one of the biggest in the world, but I didn’t want to leave Europe yet.”

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