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Chelsea Star Reveals He Turned Down Lucrative Manchester City Offer 'Because I Didn't Want To'

Chelsea Star Reveals He Turned Down Lucrative Manchester City Offer 'Because I Didn't Want To'

Manchester City came in before Chelsea but the player was not keen on the move.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has revealed he rejected an offer from Manchester City simply because "I didn't want to".

The Belgian international returned to Stamford Bridge in a club-record £97.5 million deal after two scintillating campaigns in Serie A with Inter Milan.

Lukaku scored 64 goals in 95 games for the Nerazzurri and improved massively as a player having fallen out of favour at Manchester United.

Prior to Chelsea luring him back to West London, Lukaku had a better financial package proposed by Manchester City but didn't feel the timing worked out.

Image: PA
Image: PA

“After the first year, I turned down an offer from Manchester City that was higher than Chelsea’s current one, because I didn’t want to,” he told Sky Italia, as per FcInterNews.

“It was not the time, it was the first year, I wanted to do something good for Inter because they saved my career. I was in a tunnel at Manchester United. I was a big investment for Inter and we did great things together.”

Lukaku scored within 15 minutes of his second Chelsea debut but in his new interview with Sky, has hit out at Thomas Tuchel for not playing to his strengths and said he is "not happy with the situation".

Image: PA
Image: PA

The tell-all interview was filmed a few weeks ago but released on Thursday - a day after Lukaku completed his first 90 minutes in the last 12 league games.

Having seen the explosive interview, Tuchel said the comments from his No.9 “brings noise” and is “not helpful”, while revealing he will sit down with the player and discuss the matter in private.

As well as the disappointment with his predicament at Chelsea, Lukaku also made it clear he intends to return to Inter in the future.

He also apologised for the way in which he left the club.

"I always said that I love Inter and I'll play for them again," Lukaku added.

"I really hope so. I fell in love with Italy.

"Now is the right time to talk about it and tell people what really happened, without saying anything bad about anyone, because I'm not like that.

"I want to really apologise to the Inter fans because I don't think I should have left Inter the way I did. I should have spoken to you guys first, especially after everything you did for me, for my family, my mum, my son. I'll never forget that.

"I hope from the bottom of my heart to go back to Inter and not at the end of my career but when I'm still at a good enough level to win more trophies."

Lukaku fired Inter to a first Scudetto win since 2010 under Antonio Conte last term and has admitted he was hopeful of moving to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

In 18 games in all competitions, the former Everton man has scored seven goals for Chelsea after signing a five-year, £212,000-a-week contract.

Featured Image Credit: Image: PA

Topics: Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku, Manchester City, Premier League, Manchester United, Inter Milan

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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