Lukaku awaits hostile return against Inter Milan

MILAN:Romelu Lukaku is set for possibly the most hostile reception of his career when he returns to the San Siro to face Serie A leader Inter Milan on a bumper Sunday in which champion Napoli hosts AC Milan.

Now on loan at Roma from Chelsea, Lukaku will be blasted by 50,000 whistles distributed by Inter’s hardcore fans who will lead an assault on the ears of a former hero they now consider a traitor.

Lukaku is guilty in the fans’ eyes of abandoning Inter not once, but twice, and it was the manner of his second exit in the summer which definitively turned supporters against him.

The Belgium striker was once an idol, winning Serie A in 2021 before being sold to Chelsea that summer for well over 100 million euros, as a club weighed down by debts tried desperately to get their accounts in order.

It was Inter who extracted him from Chelsea on loan last year after a dreadful season in the Premier League, his time at the Blues over even if they are still technically his club.

Despite a difficult return to Italy dogged by injuries, in which he largely played second fiddle to Edin Dzeko, Inter then vowed to try and sign him permanently, offloading Andre Onana for 55 million euros in an attempt to raise funds.

However just as Inter were closing in on a deal with Chelsea, Lukaku vanished, not answering calls and even making noises towards Milan and Juventus, Inter fans’ fiercest rivals. Agencies

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