Romelu Lukaku completes loan to Roma from Chelsea
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Lukaku was loaned back to Inter Milan last season, but talks with the club for a permanent move collapsed.
PHOTO: AFP
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ROME – Romelu Lukaku was treated to the sort of fanfare more commonly reserved for rock stars when he touched down in Rome this week, hailed as Roma’s saviour ahead of their clash with rejuvenated AC Milan on Friday.
The Belgium striker might have signed only on loan for a season from Chelsea but that did not matter to the thousands of fans who caused chaos at Ciampino Airport on Tuesday.
Flares were lit, chants were belted out and cars were damaged by supporters clambering up to catch a glimpse of the 30-year-old exiting the plane of Roma’s American chairman Dan Friedkin.
Around 50,000 supporters tracked Friedkin’s flight online as he flew his own aircraft to pick Lukaku up in Brussels and down to Rome, where a fan banner made clear that the player has already been crowned the “New King of Rome”.
“He is a big guy, physically so strong, but there is also a kid inside who needs that love, needs that support, needs to feel important,” Roma coach Jose Mourinho, who coached the 1.91m Lukaku at Chelsea and Manchester United, said of the striker previously.
It started on the right note for the Belgian, as billionaire businessman Friedkin has an eye for the spectacular.
Two years ago he confounded everyone by hiring a big-name coach in the Portuguese completely out of the blue and last summer Roma unveiled Paulo Dybala with light shows in front of the fascistic headquarters of fashion house Fendi – nicknamed the “Square Colosseum”.
Lukaku’s arrival is a big boost to Roma because Tammy Abraham’s long-term knee injury left them with only Andrea Belotti as a starting centre-forward, and also because the season has gotten off to a less-than-promising start.
Mourinho’s team have picked up just one point from their first two matches and there were few reasons to be optimistic for Friday’s Italian Serie A visit of in-form Milan, especially with Dybala a doubt with yet another thigh knock.
Mourinho said last week that Roma are not in the battle for the Champions League places but, should Lukaku stay injury-free and committed, he has enough firepower to change that assessment.
Lukaku is unlikely to feature on Friday as the breakdown of his mooted permanent deal with Inter Milan after spending last season there on loan means he has not had a proper pre-season.
However, Mourinho is back from a two-match suspension and will have to find the formula to stop Milan, who have started their campaign with two wins from as many matches. AFP
