Romelu Lukaku reveals he will never forgive former Chelsea manager. The Belgian’s career never took off with the London side.
Romelu Lukaku joined Chelsea in the summer of 2011. However, he failed to make an impact upon joining the London club and was sent out on loans to West Brom and Everton. He would eventually join the latter on a permanent basis where he established himself as one of the most promising forwards. 8 years later however, Lukaku still looks back at his time in London with bitterness towards his former manager.
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Chelsea had a tumultuous 2011/12 season. They finished at 6th place in the Premier League and were on the verge of a round of 16 exit in the Champions League. Andre Villas-Boas was sacked and replaced by Roberto Di Matteo under whom Chelsea recorded astonishing come from behind victories to beat the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich to win their first ever Champions League title.
Romelu Lukaku reveals he will never forgive former Chelsea manager
The then teenage Lukaku didn’t make his full Chelsea debut until Matteo took over. In fact, the Belgian was omitted from the Champions League squad but was allowed to join the group eventually by Matteo. He has revealed that despite being happy for Chelsea’s Champions League triumph, he will always bear a grudge for Villas-Boas and forever respect Di Matteo for integrating him
“Di Matteo told me that I would stay with the group until after the final,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
“He thought everyone should come along, including the ones who were suspended and the few boys who were not in the Champions League squad. I am also grateful to him for that.
“This win is one of the things I’ve always dreamed about. You want to celebrate something like that with the team at that time. That is nice in itself at the age of nineteen.
“I am happy for the whole club, but there is one man who took a lot from me: the previous trainer (Villas-Boas). I will never forgive him for that.
“Once I had to play in the front left, another time in the front right. You don’t develop that way.
“Then at some point you have to think about yourself. So I told the club what I thought of it. I know, Villas-Boas was also under pressure.
“But that’s why he didn’t have to treat me like that. Di Matteo approached me completely differently, he immediately involved me in everything. That should have been much earlier. Really, I never forgave the previous coach.”
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