Former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has shed light on why he decided to leave the club during his second spell at Stamford Bridge, citing unfair treatment by the club’s board.
In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, the Belgian international revealed that he and other senior players, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Hakim Ziyech, were sidelined and even forced to change in the youth locker room.
“I wasn’t alone at Chelsea. Aubameyang and Ziyech were also out of the project. They made us change in the youth locker room. It’s business. The club tells you it doesn’t want you anymore and often also where you’ll end up.”
Lukaku went on to claim that clubs often manipulate media narratives to put players in a difficult position:
“If you want to leave, even for serious reasons, you don’t have the option. They drag it out until the last moment, they wear you down. Clubs have relationships with the media, and it doesn’t take much to put a player in a difficult position or create the wrong image.”
Lukaku rejoined Chelsea in 2021 for a club-record £97m move from Inter Milan, but his return quickly turned sour. After just one season, he was loaned back to Inter, then to Roma, before making a permanent switch to Napoli last summer.
View this post on Instagram
Despite his struggles in England, Lukaku believes he was unfairly labeled as “lazy” and “overweight” by Chelsea fans and the English media.
“For them, I was lazy, but I never reacted to the attacks. I am someone who does his job and then goes home. In Italy, the opinion has been reversed. Here, I am a worker. Now at Napoli, I am better than when I was at Inter. There, I was 101kg, here I am 99kg.”
Lukaku’s revelations offer insight into the harsh realities of modern football, where clubs often dictate the narratives surrounding players, regardless of the truth.