Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte has raved about Romelu Lukaku ahead of the London derby against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea this weekend, as quoted in The Telegraph.
Conte has said that Lukaku is a very good striker who was a top signing for Chelsea last summer.
The Tottenham head coach believes that the 29-year-old Belgium international will do well back at Inter Milan.
Conte, a former Chelsea boss, worked with Lukaku at Inter, and they won the Serie A title together in 2020-21.
The former Manchester United striker struggled on his return to Chelsea last season and was loaned out to Inter earlier this summer.
Interestingly, Lukaku was linked with a move to Tottenham in the summer transfer window.
Corriere dello Sport (print edition, page 10, June 4, 2022) reported that Tottenham head coach Conte wanted the striker at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Italian tactician was reportedly planning to pair the striker with Harry Kane.
It was also in June 2022 that Italian journalist Fabio Bergomi told Calciomercato.it that Lukaku “rejected Conte’s Tottenham”.
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte on Chelsea-owned Romelu Lukaku
Conte told The Telegraph about Lukaku: “We are talking about a big amount of money for a player and I think we are talking about a really important striker in the world.
“But sometimes a situation outside of football happens and I think Romelu lived two years in Milan and he was the king. The fans showed him a lot of passion and I think he’s a guy who needs this. And for this reason, I think he wanted to go back to Milan.
“But, for sure, the signing was a good signing for Chelsea. Then, you know very well there are players that need more time to make an impact. But, for sure, he was a good signing for Chelsea.
“He has the potential to play in the Premier League. I remember very well when he started to play last season, he played really well and you in the media said Lukaku is really strong.
“A lot of things can happen for the confidence to drop. Now it’s right for him to play for an important club in Italy to try to get again confidence in himself. But we are talking about a really important, a really good striker.”
In our view, Romelu Lukaku would have been a brilliant signing for Tottenham Hotspur, but it was unlikely that Chelsea would sell or loan him to their bitter London rivals.
Lukaku enjoyed his time at Inter, and it made sense for the striker to move back to Milan.
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