Jose Mourinho has stated that Inter Milan does not need to be angry at Romelu Lukaku after the Belgian striker scored his first goal for the Giallorossi in their 7-0 Serie A bashing of Empoli.
The Belgian striker is a loan signing from Chelsea and made his first start after coming off the bench in the previous game against AC Milan. He opened his Roma account in the 82nd minute with a composed finish off Andrea Belotti’s superb assist.
Lukaku has previously shown strong affinity with Inter Milan but caused displeasure among it’s fans when he was showed interest in joining Juventus which did not materialise before settling for Roma.
“Romelu needs to be happy, needs to feel loved and wanted. He arrived here, immediately realised the team needed a player like him. He is a guy who likes to win,” Mourinho, who previously managed Lukaku at Chelsea and Manchester United, said after the Empoli game.
“I don’t think Inter have any reason to be angry, because they won the derby 5-1 and have so many extraordinary strikers. So they ought to be happy for their ex-coach who really needed a striker.”
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Lukaku was taken off after he scored and replaced by Sadar Azmoun and Mourinho explained why it was necessary to do so rather than complete the entire 90 minutes. The Portuguese tactician said:
“It was not important for me. It might be important for him, I know strikers live for the goal. Since the moment he arrived, he has been all about the team and it doesn’t matter if he scores or not. Obviously, he feels happier coming off after a goal and it’s perfect for him, especially to score in front of the Curva.
“Romelu brings a different profile to the team and we still need to learn how to play for him, because we don’t have the hang of it yet, nor does he know how to play for us. We have time to work on it and games help that too.”
Roma will now turn their attention towards the UEFA Europa League where they take on Sheriff Tiraspol in Group G on Thursday with the hope of going all the way to the final where they reached last season but lost on penalties to Sevilla.
