‘At Inter he felt like a king. At Chelsea, not so much’: Crespo backs Lukaku’s loan return to Inter
‘At Inter he felt like a king. At Chelsea, not so much’: Former Blues striker Hernan Crespo backs Romelu Lukaku’s decision to re-join Inter and admits he ‘hurried’ to AC Milan in 2004 because he ‘didn’t feel comfortable’ in England
- Hernan Crespo has supported Romelu Lukaku’s decision to return to Inter Milan
- The Belgium star failed to impress after his £98m move to Chelsea last summer
- Lukaku underwent his medical in Milan on Wednesday ahead of a £6.9m loan
- Crespo said that he ‘felt like a king’ at Inter but was not shown love at Chelsea
- The former Chelsea and Inter star once took the same transfer journey as Lukaku
- He admitted that he ‘hurried’ to return to Milan when he had the chance in 2004
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Hernan Crespo has supported Romelu Lukaku‘s decision to return to Inter Milan ahead of his imminent £6.9m loan move back to Serie A.
The Chelsea striker underwent his medical in Italy on Wednesday, keen to leave last summer’s disastrous £98m return to Stamford Bridge in his wake, at least temporarily.
Lukaku, who greeted Inter fans with a beaming smile at the Milan airport on Tuesday, has been unsettled at Chelsea since his controversial interview with Italian media last December – which occurred only four months after signing with the London club.
Romelu Lukaku endured a disappointing season following his £98m move to Chelsea last year
The Belgian international is on the brink of returning to Inter ahead of a proposed £6.9m loan
His journey mirrors that of ex-Argentinian international Crespo, who joined Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea from Inter in 2003.
The 46-year-old later reunited with the Italian giants on a two-year loan spell before eventually re-signing permanently in 2008.
Lukaku waved and smiled at Inter fans ahead of his medical at the club on Wednesday
Crespo has fully backed Lukaku’s decision to return, revealing that he also ‘hurried’ a move back to Milan as soon as he could.
‘Lukaku decided to return – at Inter he felt like a king, at Chelsea he didn’t,’ he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
‘So it’s a matter of love and heart. And when it comes to the heart, it almost always ends well.
‘I also decided to return to Italy because I felt comfortable in Serie A, less in the Premier League.
‘I was already in love with Milan, with Italian football, with Serie A. And then, for a footballer, Milan is really the best, there is a unique passion there.
‘After the season at Chelsea, Ancelotti wanted me to be at Milan: I hurried there.
‘But at the end of the season, and saddened by the loss in the Champions League final in Istanbul, I returned to Chelsea.’
Lukaku smiled as he waved to the crowd and shook a few hands at Milan airport on Tuesday
Former Blues and Inter striker Hernan Crespo supported Lukaku’s decision to seek a return
Lukaku’s exit from Stamford Bridge this summer seemed inevitable after he netted just eight times in 26 Premier League appearances last campaign.
During his contentious interview with Sky Italia in December, the striker admitted he was unsettled in London and wanted to return to the European giants.
He said: ‘How I left Inter, how I communicated with the fans, this bothers me because it is not the right time now, but even when I left it was not the right time.
‘Now I think it is right to speak because I have always said that I have Inter in my heart, I will return to play there, I really hope so.
‘I am in love with Italy, this is rightly the time to talk and let people know what really happened without talking badly about people because I am not like that.
The Argentinian left Inter for Chelsea in 2003, before going back to the club on loan in 2006
‘I want to say a big apology to the Inter fans because I think the way I left should have been different.
‘I really hope in the depths of my heart to return to Inter, not at the end of my career, but at a still good level to hopefully win more.’
Lukaku joins a growing list of forwards who struggled at Stamford Bridge following a blockbuster move.
Fernando Torres from Liverpool (£50m), Andriy Shevchenko from AC Milan (£30.8m) and Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid (£58m) each failed to repay their lofty price tags with consistent goal returns.
Shevchenko, much like Crespo and Lukaku, left Milan to join Chelsea in 2006, only to return to the Italian city once again in 2008 after a disappointing stint at the west London club.
