2023-05-15 21:49:00
It’s a title that no one would have imagined reading a few weeks ago. Or even write, for that matter. And yet. Sunday morning, for its edition of the day, the Gazzetta dello Sport headline: “The King is back”. With a full-page Romelu Lukaku, celebrating his double the day before against Sassuolo (4-2) in a stadium which experienced an evening with the sweet scent of the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons.
Two goals from “Big Rom”, one from Lautaro Martinez: the “Lu-La” has (re)made its own in Serie A. If the world champion has a season in his standards (24 goals, 10 assists), his Belgian friend, he experienced many difficulties for his return after his London escapade. Between injuries, mistakes and clumsiness, the attacker, on loan from Chelsea, took time to start the engine. His World Cup with the “Red Devils”, punctuated by several misses in the decisive match against Croatia, did nothing to help his confidence. The competition established with Edin Dzeko either.
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The epilogue of the reunion between Inter and Lukaku therefore seemed written. On April 17, the Journal was categorical: the Lombard club had decided not to keep him at the end of this season. “There is no possibility, and no negotiation with Chelsea. The costs are too high, the return disappointing and the player is disappointed with his management by Simone Inzaghi“, we learned in the columns of the daily pink. End of the story, then? Not really. As football is a sport where everything goes really too fast, the world has changed around Lukaku. And Inter, Also.
“He is very important to us”
On the one hand, the Nerazzurri have found the top 4 in the league, won a new ticket in the final of the Italian Cup before, perhaps, composing that for that of C1 this Tuesday evening against AC Milan (9 p.m.). They are therefore in the running for a “mini triple”: Italian Super Cup, Italian Cup and Champions League. On the other, the Belgian international found his way back to the nets, gained confidence and took care of his statistics (12 goals, 5 assists). Like his trainer Simone Inzaghi, long in the hot seat, he was able to overturn the table to gain credit. Enough to hope for a starting place this Tuesday evening?
According to the Italian media, the answer is… no. As in the first leg, and as often in major confrontations, the youngest of the Inzaghi brothers should line up Edin Dzeko in association with Lautaro Martinez, retaining the luxury of being able to bring in his number 90 in the second period. “Lukaku is a player that Inter have missed a lot this seasonrecognized the legend of the Lombard club Giuseppe Bergomi, now a consultant at Sky Italia. It’s a team that lacked depth. Now the team is fine and most importantly Inzaghi trusts everyone and lets them all play.”
In the last ten league matches, “Big Rom” has had nine starts. Symbolic of his return to form. “It is very important to usrecognized Simone Inzaghi last May 9. We know what he’s had this season, with an injury that forced him out for four months. Now he scores and gives everyone a big helping hand. It’s an extra weapon. Without him, we sometimes lacked rotation.”
“Six out of ten chances of keeping it”
Starting from afar, Lukaku is catching up over the weeks. To the point that its leaders are now seriously asking themselves the question of what to do next. “This flashback, spectacular, is the result of the player’s desire to prolong the adventure at Inter (…) The tide has turned“, wrote The Sports Gazette Monday. Sebastien Ledure, the player’s lawyer, is already at work with Chelsea to reduce the costs of the operation. Inter’s idea? An extension of the current (paying) loan, if possible with a cost lower than the 8 million euros already spent. As for the salary issue, the Belgian international would be ready to make a new effort, he who has already increased his emoluments from 12 to 8.5 million euros.
“For Lukaku, the World Cup weighed this seasonadmitted Giuseppe Marotta, Saturday. He was half hurt, before he was fully hurt. He wanted to go to Qatar and his season has become atypical. Unfortunately, Lukaku is not ours, and I don’t know what Chelsea want to do. If the future coach of the Blues wishes to keep him, the subject will be closed. He is happy in Milan, he has integrated very well. Having him with us is very positive, we’ll see later” Asked about the possibilities of being able to keep him at the end of this season, the managing director of Inter spoke of “six out of ten chances“Already not bad for a player who was announced to be leaving a month ago.
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