Romelu Lukaku: Why’d Inter Milan fans accuse ex-Manchester United striker of ‘betrayal’ after joining Chelsea?

Just around a year after securing his dream move back to Chelsea, the club he first initially joined in 2011, it appears Lukaku’s long story with Chelsea is over.

Chelsea smashed their record transfer by some margin to bring the ex-Everton striker back to West London, paying Inter Milan around £100 million for the striker.

At the time, the transfer made perfect sense. Tammy Abraham was seemingly out of favour under Thomas Tuchel, so getting a striker in was needed.

Abraham was eventually sold to Jose Mourinho’s Roma for just over £30 million.

Lukaku was rejuvenated after a torrid time at Manchester United, leaving the Premier League giants in 2021 after just two years.

The reason Lukaku demanded such a high fee was his 2020/2021 season, as he finished the season with 24 league goals and 11 assists, making him Inter’s highest goalscorer and the league’s second highest goalscorer, behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Why is Lukaku leaving Chelsea?

Less than six months after he returned to Chelsea, Lukaku sat down for an interview and it was aired by Sky in Italy. Lukaku said he was not happy with the situation at Chelsea and indicated he had issues with Tuchel’s style of play.

Tuchel and Lukaku sat down for ‘clear the air talks’ and were both determined to move on from this.

Lukaku then issued a public apology to Chelsea fans, via the club’s official twitter account.

But, it appears that the relationship between Tuchel and Lukaku, and Lukaku’s relationship with the Chelsea fans was fractured from the get-go.

Where will Lukaku most likely go?

With Chelsea eager to recoup some money from their record transfer, it is hard to see any clubs actively pursuing Lukaku, as he is 29 and therefore will have less resale value.

The club he left a year ago are said to be the front-runners, but are not prepared to offer anywhere near what they sold him for.

The reported fee that Inter and Chelsea may agree on is an £8 million loan fee with no obligation/future fee in the deal, meaning he would return to Chelsea upon the expiry of his loan at Inter.

Why do Inter fans think Lukaku betrayed them?

Lukaku is close to securing a move back to Milan, but Inter fans have issued a stark reminder, saying they haven’t forgotten his betrayal.

All was good at Inter, he had just had a stellar season and helped Inter to win their first Scudetto (Italian league title) in over a decade.

Inter ultras also released a statement, saying: "Curva Nord supports Inter Milan and will not stage any protest against the player

"That being said, nobody shall go and welcome him with scarves and banners representing the Curva or its groups.

“He will need to earn everything that, in case, will be done for him in the future with humility and sweat on the pitch. He was supported (and treated) like a king, now he’s just a player like many others.”

Who could replace Lukaku?

Armando Broja is returning to Chelsea after a season long loan at Southampton, but isn’t considered near the level Chelsea want or need.

Gabriel Jesus has also been a name that’s been linked with Chelsea, but he is believed to be Arsenal bound.

It may be time for Tino Werner to step up, or continue to deploy Kai Havertz as a striker, a move that was used sparingly last season.