Romelu Lukaku has moved to reassure fans that he remains 100% committed to Chelsea, despite his now-infamous interview with the Italian media suggesting otherwise.
The striker spoke at length about his love for former employers Inter and also confessed that he expected to join a 'big club' like Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich before ending up at Chelsea.
The outrage from fans has been huge and Lukaku quickly sat down with Chelsea's media team to release an apology interview in which he did his best to clarify his comments and stress his love of the Blues.
“It was not about trying to disrespect the [Chelsea] fans, the football club, the owner, my teammates, the manager and his technical staff, because they did a lot of effort to bring me back here, and I wanted to come back here. I was on a mission since I left," he said.
“I totally understand the frustrations of the fans, but now it’s on me to make sure I show that my commitment is 100%, and I will do that every game.
- Thomas Tuchel confirms Romelu Lukaku will be fined for interview
- Romelu Lukaku apologises to Chelsea fans following bombshell interview
“There’s no need to question [my commitment]. At the end of the day, I’ve always said I want to come here to be successful, that’s why I signed a five-year deal, Chelsea as a club is equal to success. I have a special passion for this club, I want to win here for many years, that’s why I signed a five year deal, and that’s why I want to show my commitment in training every day."
When asked to explain his comments about the 'big clubs', Lukaku stressed that those three sides are universally seen as giants but urged fans to look at his personal history for evidence of which club he thinks is the best in the world.
"What I meant by that was, you have a lot of kids who have a certain type of dream, to play for those clubs," he said. "For me, my club was Chelsea.
"Everybody knows that, from being 10 or 11 years old, I always wanted to play for Chelsea. There are images when I came [to Stamford Bridge] on my school trip that showed that I wanted to play for Chelsea.
"I came here when I was 18, it didn’t go so well, now I am back here at 28 in the prime years of my career. I can’t really mess this up.
"I really worked hard for the last 10 years just to get this opportunity, now I’m really happy to be here, to show my commitment to the club and the fans and win games and trophies at the end of the season.”
Source : 90min