- Romelu Lukaku was accused of being overweight at Man United and Chelsea
- But the Belgian striker looks in good form after his meeting with Antonio Conte
- Listen now: it’s all starting! With Premier League probably securing five points of the Champions League, are we rewarding mediocrity?
Romelu Lukaku is back in the best way and weighing goals in Napoli’s impulse for the A Series A title.
The Belgian marked his 10th of the season in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Fiorentina, beating the rebound of Scott Mctominay’s attack to leave Antonio’s team only one point behind the League leaders between Milan.
Despite his excellent Premier League scoring record – 121 goals in 278 games – Lukaku used to ridicule in England for his weight.
It has been a complicated balance for Lukaku throughout his career and he sometimes sacrificed the pace to gain more muscle mass.
He increased to help Belgium reach third place in the 2018 World Cup and then fought to lose weight in time for his home season with Manchester United.
“At Premier League, I can’t play with the same amount of muscle as international football,” he said at the time.
Romelu Lukaku cuts a finish figure as he celebrates the score against Fiorentina on Sunday
The Belgian is back with Antonio Conte, under whom he played some of his best football
Lukaku is weighing 99 pounds, which is actually three lighter pounds than its ‘ideal’ weight
Lukaku fought in Old Trafford, managing 28 goals in 66 Premier League games under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
A change to £ 73 million between Milan followed where he was under the tutelage of Conte – a man he describes as the best manager he has ever had.
Under Conte, he lost 1.5 stone in just 12 days when he found that his digestive system was “defective”. The new regime wonders and Lukaku fired in 24 goals and took 11 assists to help guide Inter Milan to the 2021 series title before leaving for Chelsea in a change of £ 97.5 million.
He has made a promising beginning of life in his second period in Stamford Bridge – scoring four goals in his first four games – but things soon became sour. In the end, he scored only 15 goals in 44 games during his time in western London.
Subsequently, it was sent in two successive periods of loans before completing a permanent transfer to Napoli and a meeting with Conte for £ 38 million.
Seven months after the end of Chelsea hell, the 31 -year -old seems to have his weight balance again (although he says it could be better) and Napoli is rewarding the rewards.
Last week, in an interview with Corriere Dello SportLukaku opened on his weight and before explaining how Conte had improved his game.
“In England, they had the wrong idea,” said Lukaku.
Romelu lukaku increased to the 2018 World Cup, but fought to change the weight again
Romelu Lukaku was accused of being overweight at Manchester United in 2019, but returned to England in 2021, looking very sideboard after his spell at Inter under Antonio Conte
Lukaku revealed how he contains improved his game, especially with his back to goal
“For them, I was lazy, but I never reacted to the attacks.” I am someone who does his job and then goes home.
‘In Italy, the opinion was reversed, here I am a worker. Now I’m better than when I was at Inter. There I was 101 kg, here 99 kg. My ideal weight is actually 102 pounds.
‘Playing back to goal … Conte was very clear: “If you don’t improve that aspect, you can’t play with me.” No alternatives.
“I have to thank him because what used to be my weakness has become strength.”
With Manchester United and Chelsea struggling to score goals at the moment, they could be forgiven for giving him an envious look at Naples and wondering why they couldn’t get the best of Romelu Lukaku.
