Lukaku: “Napoli? We have respect, not fear”

From the injury (“the flexor tendon was broken”), to the love for Inter (“my son plays in the Academy”), to the relationship with Ibra (“I hope you come back soon”). A year after the interview that led to the break with Chelsea and then to the return to the Nerazzurri, Romelu Lukaku spoke again to the microphones of Sky.

The run-up

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“Until a team has lifted the trophy, everything is possible – are his words -. If I believe it? Always. For that we play football, you have to believe in the impossible. As people say it is impossible for us, let’s see at the end of the season the team that lifts the trophy and will be champion. Now no one has lifted it, we’re still there, there are still 6 months to go. The championship ends on June 6, guys: we’re not yet on January 4”. His thoughts are already on January 4 for the match against Napoli: “Spalletti has done a great job, we have to say. They have really strong players, I’ve been out and seen many of their matches. Napoli are in a good moment. They are first in the standings. We have respect but not fear”.

The injury

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Lukaku spoke about the muscle injury that stopped him at the end of August: “Mine was a serious injury: normally I’m someone who comes back fast and for me it’s the first time in 13 years that I’ve missed so many games. But this time it couldn’t have been done otherwise. I arrived at the World Cup with two training sessions in my legs and there was disappointment with Croatia. I stopped for five days, then I went to Dubai to start from scratch and arrive ready. Then I came back here and they slaughtered me for 10 days”.

Son

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Lukaku also spoke about his son: “When I entered the Champions League with PSV, my son was there, a crazy Inter fan. Seeing him and watching me after he scored was nice. For me, Inter fans are the best. I’ve seen in the world, I’m always there to help you. I thought they were still angry with me. My son has now started with the Inter Academy, we also want to stay here for the family. At the end of the season we’ll talk about it and hopefully find a solution.” . His intentions are clear: “I hope to stay at Inter in the future too, for me Inter is really everything, but I want to end my career at Anderlecht. Inter gave me the opportunity to be Romelu Lukaku. Before I was always many goals but one piece was missing. With Inter I won with the love of the fans and the club, my teammates.”

Lauti and Dzeko

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He sent a message to Lautaro immediately after his success in the world final: “I’m really happy for him. I wrote to him immediately after the final and he replied immediately. I hope it will give him even more energy to do good things for Inter. Now Lautaro has new energy, I think it will do really great things.” A special relationship with Dzeko: “An excellent relationship, even in the Premier League. But people don’t know it. When I arrived at Inter with Conte, Edin had to come too. Then he didn’t come, but we always respected each other. We are totally different on the pitch, we can help each other.”

The friend

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Romelu has found a united dressing room: “The dressing room hasn’t changed, in fact it’s even worse. It’s a competitive group, we grew up together and won together”. We’re at Inter to win to do well, there’s no alibi. We have to give our best every day, if you have to run more for your partner you have to do it. Two years ago when we won, everyone was running”. And he thanked his friend Dimarco: “People need to know that’s what really helped me at Inter. He taught me many things about Inter, he is truly a great friend. He speaks a little French and he helped me with Italian and everything. Every night we play Play, I’m stronger.”

The objectives

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After the disappointment at the World Cup (“Belgium doesn’t have to start from scratch – he says -. I hope Thierry Henry is the new coach, he would be perfect for me”), the goal now is the run-up to the Scudetto. Even if there are many points behind Napoli (11) Lukaku hasn’t given up: “The team is doing well, we have a lot of desire, me too personally, but we have to keep working well. We have to give our best every day: if you have to race You have to do more for your team-mates. Since the match against Barcelona we have shown that we are more of a team. We have trained on different ways of playing and we are ready.”

Ibra

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There is a reference to Ibrahimovic, with whom he had clashed hard. “I wish him back soon. I don’t want to see great players out for a long time. There’s always respect for what he’s done in his career, he’s won a lot. He’s done a lot for Inter and now for that team there” .