Romelu Lukaku claims it was a "mistake" to leave Inter Milan for Chelsea last summer and has made a sly dig at his former teammates.
The Blues re-signed Lukaku, 29, from Inter for £97.5million last August but he returned to Italy on a season-long loan deal in June. The Belgium international struggled for form during his second spell at Stamford Bridge, scoring just eight Premier League goals.
Lukaku's Chelsea return was overshadowed by a controversial interview he gave to the Italian press last December, insisting he was 'unhappy' at the club. He struggled to win back the trust of supporters after that and few were surprised by his return to Italy.
Lukaku has been speaking to the press again, insisting his regret at leaving Inter 11 months ago. He was prolific during his first spell in Italy, scoring 64 goals in 95 games under current Tottenham manager Antonio Conte to help Inter win the Serie A title in 2020/21.
Sitting alongside teammate Nicolo Barella at an event, Lukaku said (as quoted by Football Italia ): "The biggest challenge of my career will be this season here. I left. It was a mistake, right Nico? [giggles].
"Now I am happy to be wearing this jersey, the team knows what we need to do, it’ll be a great challenge this season and we need to continue like this. I realised last season when I was in England, just how important Inter are in the world.
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"The club’s profile is improving on an international scale, the social media approach is really important too and you can see how we act in the locker room, in training, our hugs and jokes. Milan is a wonderful city and that is why I kept the old apartment when I went to London, because my mother was coming here all the time and I wanted to return too."
Lukaku also took aim at his former Chelsea teammates, saying "nobody talks badly about anyone else" at Inter. Although the former Manchester United striker didn't explicitly refer to the Blues squad, his comments are unlikely to be well received at Stamford Bridge as he suggested Inter have a closer knit group.
"Our locker room is a big family," added Lukaku, as quoted by Football Italia. "We spend a lot of time together off the field, we have big team dinners together. On the pitch too, nobody talks badly about anyone else, we are always positive.
"When there are big matches, there is always a player who wrote history with Inter before who will write to you on Instagram, send a message, and that all shows that Inter is a big family."
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel hasn't closed the door on Lukaku returning to Stamford Bridge when his loan deal at Inter expires. "Given the fact he’s just on loan, of course there’s a chance," Tuchel told reporters during Chelsea's pre-season tour of the US.
"I don’t know if it’s very likely, but it’s not on me to give an outlook on that. There is a chance for it... we decided together with the owners that we'd let him go. It was his wish to go, he had the possibility, we let him go."
