What’s going on with Romelu Lukaku? The Red Devils striker has been dragging a muscle injury for over a month and his return has once again been delayed. So he will miss this weekend’s game against Roma and should also be out of the crucial Champions League match against FC Barcelona next week. A situation that is slowly starting to worry Milan.
Inter and their coach Simone Inzaghi relied heavily on him for these two important meetings. Announced back to training last weekRomelu Lukaku was portrayed by the Gazzetta dello Sport like the one who should “to give a new impetus to Inter”, who remains on three defeats in six games since his injury. “Even if he won’t win alone, number 90 will be the light to follow to get out of the tunnel.” But it is clear that he will not be ready yet and will miss his seventh consecutive meeting with the Nerazzurri.
“The Inter championship will restart (after the international break, Editor’s note), but without Romelu Lukaku in the engine of the Nerazzurri”written this Friday the Gazzetta dello Sportwho is surprised not to see the Belgian giant back when the press release from the Milanese club announced an unavailability of barely 20 days: “It’s already been a month since he was injured. A very long absence that seems to go on forever.”
The Italian daily is all the more surprised by Lukaku’s package as “Feelings have been positive over the past few days in training, with Romelu working apart but well on the pitch with Roma’s goal in sight. But on Thursday everything changed and the latest news was pessimistic.” The Belgian was to participate in the collective session on Thursday to validate his participation in the meeting on Saturday but he finally continued to work alone. A heartbreak for Big Rom’ who wants to get back on the pitch as soon as possible: “Romelu is dying to help the team in this delicate period. But it is forbidden to take risks”according to our colleagues who believe that his 100 kilos of muscles and his type of game force him to be careful before returning.
A “new” fragility that worries
Anyway Lukaku’s return to Inter is not going in the best way. If he had a dream start after his arrival from Chelsea with a goal against Lecce and an assist against La Spezia, it is now the doubts that surround the name of Romelu Lukaku: “His flash goal after three minutes against Lecce was an illusion for Romelu and the Nerazzurri people. Because this muscle injury accused in training at the end of August sounded an alarm, that of a month of September turning into a path of cross for the Belgian”continued the Journal who has calculated that the striker has already missed more games this season with Inter than in all of his first two years with the Nerazzuri under the leadership of Antonio Conte.
At that time, the Belgian had missed five matches, including two in the Champions League, against Barcelona and Real Madrid. For as many defeats, to which must be added the one against Bayern Munich at the start of the season: “Doing without a top player like Lukaku against the best teams in the world is never advisable, but here it becomes an unfortunate (and unpleasant) habit”explains the Italian daily which finally estimates that “without Romelu, Inter lose their offensive fulcrum: admittedly, the real Lukaku has not been seen in the first three games of the season, but the mere presence is useful to scare and occupy the opposing defense. Whether they forfeit or not against Barça can make all the difference. Of course, Inter will not take any risks: impossible to do so, with a World Cup fast approaching.”
Because if time is not yet pressing for the World Cup, the physical glitches of Big Rom ‘must also worry Roberto Martinez. After a complicated season, during which he played less at Chelsea, the striker was injured twice in less than three months. He has also only played one game with the Devils in 2023 (out injured after 27 minutes against the Netherlands in June). And a relapse could already mean his withdrawal from the World Cup, which he absolutely does not want to miss.