Chelsea's New Years' Post Signalled The End For Romelu Lukaku, He Was Not Happy

A New Year's post from Chelsea played a part in Romelu Lukaku's decision to leave Stamford Bridge for a second time and rejoin Inter Milan.

The Belgian striker has headed back to the Nerazzurri on a season-long loan, with Inter paying an initial £6.9 million loan fee and potentially a £3.5 million bonus payment if he leads Inter to the Serie A title once again.

Inter had sold Lukaku to Chelsea for £97.5 million last summer and Blues fans were hoping he was ready to deliver after his first stint never worked out.

Lukaku scored 15 minutes into his second Chelsea debut but only managed 15 goals in 44 games. His controversial interview with Sky Italia, where he hit out at Thomas Tuchel for not playing to his strengths and declared his desire to return to Inter, led to an apology to teammates and fans.

But Lukaku himself was believed to be furious over a post from Chelsea's official Twitter account.

On 31 December, Chelsea wished their fans a Happy New Year with a graphic featuring a host of players from different teams.

Although Lukaku was featured, The Athletic say he was not happy with barely being seen and deemed it to to be a snub.

In a separate report, it's said Lukaku did not react well to a "daddy" joke Tuchel made about Antonio Conte, his former manager at Inter, while the pair were watching a Spurs game.

Having arrived as Chelsea's new No.9 and their main man, Lukaku ended up becoming a bit-part player as Tuchel opted to play without a striker for large spells.

Incredibly, in his first interview after returning to Inter, Lukaku has revealed he was in contact with Inter boss Simone Inzaghi "throughout all of last season" - much to the anger of Chelsea supporters.

He wore the No.9 shirt at the San Siro the first time around but it's been confirmed by Inter that he will be sporting No.90 for the 2022/23 campaign.

Many fans believe the shirt number is referring to Inter making £90 million off Chelsea for Lukaku.

Lukaku becomes the latest player to wear the No.9 for the West London club but ultimately end up flopping.

Other members include Alvaro Morata, Fernando Torres, Hernan Crespo, Mateja Kezman, Steve Sidwell and Radamel Falcao.

Featured Image Credit: Image: Alamy

Topics: Romelu Lukaku, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Premier League, Belgium

Josh Lawless

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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