Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has fired back at those critical of his performances whilst at Manchester United and has admitted that he feels more appreciated in Italy.
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Lukaku, 27, joined United from Everton in 2017 for a fee of £76.23m as per TransferMarkt.
The Belgian striker spent two years at Old Trafford in a spell which saw him be directly involved in 55 goals in 96 games in all competitions.
The elite forward’s time at United was clouded after criticism emerged suggesting that the Belgian international was ‘slow’ and ‘lazy’. Lukaku also suffered unfair jibes from rival fans who would ridicule him for having a poor first touch.
Having been sold to Serie A giants Inter Milan last summer the striker has since spoken out and fired back at his critics and explained how he’s enjoying life in Italy.
Speaking to The Times (as quoted by Goal) the 27-year-old striker said: “A year ago, when I was in England, I was ‘lazy, I didn’t run, I didn’t do this and that’
“Here, they call me the hardest worker in the room. If you look at me playing here and there, I mean, there are improvements but the [same] Rom is still there.
“If you look at me now you see a different outcome, you see the full person, you see the full potential. You see what I could have been doing in England.
“They will call me slow and I’m like, ‘slow? Me, slow? I cannot keep up with the fast pace game of Man Utd?
“There were too many little things where I thought: this is not right. If you call me slow I would not score a goal like I scored the second against Shakhtar Donetsk in the [Europa League] semi-final.
“If I was slow I would not have got the penalty like I did against Sevilla in the final. That’s two years after.
“Are you going to say me at 27 is faster than I was at 25? That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s just little things. I was like, you know what? Eff this. I’m out.”
Since Lukaku has been with Inter Milan, he’s become one of manager Antonio Conte’s most trusted players after forming a clinical partnership with fellow striker Lauturo Martinez.
The Belgian boasts an impressive record after his first 14 months in Italy having featured in 53 matches in all competitions and being directly involved in 43 goals.