Inter boss Antonio Conte was delighted with Romelu Lukaku’s impact as his side secured a 4-0 win over Lecce to get their Serie A campaign off to a flying start.
The former Manchester United striker bagged a goal on his debut as he pounced on a rebound to find the back of the net to put the hosts 3-0 up.
SEE MORE: Video: Romelu Lukaku pounces on chance to score goal on Inter debut
Antonio Candreva completed the night with a sensational fourth, and so the Nerazzurri will take huge confidence from that start as they hope to challenge Juventus for the Scudetto this season.
Conte spoke about Lukaku after the game, and insisted that his performance showed exactly why both himself and the club were so keen to prise him away from United this summer.
“Lukaku? He entered the Inter world with great humility, in the best way. A gentle and humble giant, he made himself available to his teammates and is ready to work,” he is quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Let’s not forget Lukaku cost €65m to be paid over five years, so when people talk about big money spent, it wasn’t even that much,” he added, as per Football Italia. “Tonight, Lukaku showed why we tried so hard to sign him.”
On one hand, it has to be remembered that Inter were playing a newly-promoted side at home and were highly fancied to come away with a win.
Nevertheless, they have to beat what is in front of them and they did so in emphatic fashion on Monday night, perhaps emerging as the most impressive side from the opening weekend of fixtures.
As for Lukaku, it was an ideal way for him to start life at Inter, and he’ll hope that having already opened his account for the club that the pressure will be off and he can now build on that moving forward while making the touted transfer fee above look like money well spent.
As per BBC Sport, it had been reported that he cost £74m, and so there does seem to be a discrepancy with the figure noted by Conte.
