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Romelu Lukaku is no longer an irreplaceable player for Inter Milan.
The best game of the season against Barcelona, in the hell of the Camp Nou, showed how the Nerazzurri overcame the mental handicap of not having one of the best strikers in the club’s history on the team.
The problem with his leg flexors is much more serious than expected and the player also fears jeopardizing his participation in the Qatar World Cup.
Romelu Lukaku’s physical problems are worse than feared and give Inter Milan a headache
Simone Inzaghi has been unable to play Lukaku since the end of August after several setbacks
Inter fans have been excited about his return and have even forgiven him the night flight to London to join Chelsea, but today they are very worried about the future of the team and are starting to feel less and less love for Lukaku.
Lukaku’s stats aren’t disastrous, but they are a mirror not only of the problems associated with Simone Inzaghi’s system, but also his physique which is full of scars and problems.
There may be a diplomatic rift between Lukaku and Inter as the player, Sky Sport Italia reports, decided to return to Belgium in early September to continue treatment in his home country.
This estrangement prevented the club from constantly monitoring his progress and his physical condition appears to have deteriorated further since then.
Edin Dzeko’s contract expires in June and despite being seven years older than Lukaku, he is in much better shape physically than the former Chelsea star and much sharper in front of goal.
Lukaku smiled at Milan Fashion Week last month, but struggles to impress
Inter’s number 90 last played in their 3-1 defeat to Lazio on August 26 and has still not returned
If Inter had to choose today, they would undoubtedly bet on Dzeko by bringing Lukaku back to London.
Lukaku has already missed 10 matches in Serie A and the Champions League and is losing one position in the team’s hierarchy every week.
His market value has collapsed, perhaps halved since Chelsea paid £97.5million to buy him from Inter and his ongoing physical problems appear to have further reduced the overall value.
Experienced striker Edin Dzeko currently looks like a more sure bet for Inter on the attack
Today hardly any top clubs would spend that much money on a player who is constantly injured and with such a high salary.
LUKAKU HAS A BAD INJURY REPORT OF LATE
At the end of the season, Inter will conduct a tactical, technical and economic analysis to try and understand what the future should hold for a player who, at the age of 30, has discovered that his muscles are as fragile as butter.
The Belgian has missed more matches in the past two years than in his entire career before.
Lukaku’s statistics are a source of embarrassment: 17 games lost to injury since the start of the 2021-22 season, compared to just 16 in previous years.
The last time Lukaku played was on August 26, in Maurizio Sarri’s 3-1 defeat to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. Since then he has become a ghost and every attempt at physical recovery has failed.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter staff and coach Inzaghi are very surprised by Lukaku’s collapse and his inability to recover before Sunday’s game against Salernitana after several weeks of rest.
This follows Lukaku’s disappointing first season at Chelsea after they spent £97.5million
Lukaku is such a strong boy, but these athletic issues make the big investment planned to buy him in June 2023 unjustified.
Inter will be cautious when it comes to his physical fitness, but it is clear how they are all amazed at the physical collapse of a boy who in his first Italian experience was like a hurricane taking down every defender in his path.
IS LUKAKU A MIRACLE OF CONTE?
In Italy, the most obvious feeling is that Lukaku is simply the most successful result of Antonio Conte, who managed to transform a normal player into a top player by physically reconstructing the Belgian striker as a Riace bronze.
In his career, Lukaku has only peaked under the physical and technical leadership of Conte. The Italian coach always studied the career of the Antwerp-born giant and managed to find a perfect tactical position for him.
Without Conte, Lukaku’s career would have evaporated to the clumsy level of Manchester United.
It seems that only Antonio Conte knows how to get the best out of the giant Belgian striker
Can a single coach exaggerate the qualities of a young athlete? Probably the answer is yes, as Lukaku was only considered a top player during the period he spent close to his favorite manager.
Lukaku is not decisive when he has to talk to his teammates and his best quality is to split the defense in two by running vertically.
When he doesn’t take advantage of these qualities he becomes useless and for this he had his big conflict with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.
Paolo Di Canio told Sky Sport in the past that he always defined Lukaku as a “big soft panther” – not very bad and not very astute.
In the past, his judgments seemed exaggerated, but today they perfectly reflect the troubles ‘Big Rom’ is going through in his second life in Serie A.
The failure of his second adventure at Chelsea confirmed his specificity and that he can only get along with Conte.