Following his exit from Manchester United in this transfer window, Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has hit out at his former club, and also revealed what annoyed him about the way he was treated.
The Belgian lost his place in the Red Devils’ starting line-up last season, and was subjected to major criticism from United fans across the world.
He was subsequently sold to Antonio Conte’s Inter in this window, but he has now claimed to have been essentially blindsided by the board as he did not know the club had any intention of selling him.
“The stuff that really p****d me off is the articles I saw, and nobody came to me and told me,” Lukaku told the LightHarted Podcast.
“I can understand that I’m on the bench if I’m not playing well.
“But nobody tells me ‘Yo, you have to fight for your place’.”
Lukaku continued to spill details on the moments leading to his latest transfer.
“A lot of things have been said where I didn’t feel protected,” he added.
“I didn’t feel like a lot of trade rumours, ‘Rom was going to go there, they don’t want Rom’ – they don’t come out and shut it down.
“A lot of stuff was said about me, that was for like three or four weeks. I was waiting for someone to come and shut it down. It didn’t happen. I was like, ‘Oh okay, is that how it’s going to be?’
“That’s when I had my conversation and told them what I said. I told them it was better to go separate ways.
“If you guys don’t want to protect somebody. I just wanted a little bit of protection, like ‘Yeah, Rom is not going to leave, he just needs to fight for his place’ or whatever.
“It never happened in the last four or five months. There is fighting for your position but there is also being somewhere where people want you to be.”
Lukaku scored 42 goals and assisted 13 strikes in 96 appearances for the Red Devils.
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