Antonio Conte drew the best out of Romelu Lukaku at Inter after showing him support that felt lacking at Manchester United, the striker s agent has claimed.
As Conte emerges as a possible candidate to become the next United manager, should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continue to struggle, his credentials as a coach who helps players to achieve their potential have been underlined by remarks from Lukaku s representative Federico Pastorello.
When Lukaku joined Inter from United in August 2019, it was on the back of a disappointing second year at Old Trafford in which he scored 15 goals in 45 games – 32 were starts – at a rate of one every 201 minutes.
That was the fewest goals he had managed in a full season since establishing himself in the Premier League during a loan spell at West Brom in 2012-13. Lukaku was owned by Chelsea during his time with the Baggies. He saw little action for the Blues first time around, but his Premier League career has come full circle this year after he returned to Stamford Bridge following two prolific years with Inter in Italy.
Four strong seasons at Everton were followed by a 27-goal first campaign with United, before the team s fortunes nosedived in the final months of Jose Mourinho s tenure, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer taking over midway through the 2018-19 campaign.
His goals under Mourinho in that season came at one every 273 minutes, improving to one every 151 minutes once Solskjaer took the reins for the Red Devils.
But Pastorello said Lukaku still needed the assurance he was central to a manager s plans, and he found that at San Siro under Conte, a former Chelsea boss who wanted to sign the striker during his stint in west London.
Two years of work with Mr Conte helped him. He can score left, right, head. He has completed himself as a striker working with Mr Conte. He also had the opportunity to improve himself personally, Pastorello told Sky Sports News.
He felt wanted. This is what he was not able to feel at Man United. That happens.
Across two years in Italy, Lukaku hit 64 goals in 95 games, at one every 121 minutes. He bettered his expected goals tally of 57.73 and created 133 chances, having carved out just 82 in 96 games for United.
According to Pastorello, Thomas Tuchel showed a compelling desire to make Lukaku a prize asset at Chelsea, making a fantastic speech that convinced the Belgian striker a second spell at Stamford Bridge was the right switch.
He gave him the feeling that he really wanted him, that he was the perfect last piece in the puzzle, Pastorello said, recalling Tuchel s words to Lukaku before the reported £97.5million transfer. It s very crucial for a player to decide to go in a team with a coach that really wants him.
After making a fast start at Chelsea, with four goals in his first four games across all competitions, Lukaku finds himself on a seven-goal barren run, with Tuchel saying the striker is mentally fatigued. He is also currently injured, with no clear indication yet of when he might return.
Despite the brouhaha surrounding his early impressive performances, Lukaku s goals in this spell for Chelsea have now come at an average of one every 208 minutes, albeit these are just the early stages of the campaign. The fact Chelsea sit top of the Premier League has eased the pressure on Lukaku to hit another scoring streak.
Rom s brain and his mind is very focused with Chelsea, Pastorello said. He will rest a little bit, but he ll be back with more will to win trophies.
Lukaku has missed Chelsea s last two games due to a minor injury sustained in last week s Champions League win over Malmo.
