‘I told him to join Chelsea’- Lukaku reveals he told current Chelsea star to join Stamford bridge last summer
Romelu Lukaku has revealed that he played a crux part in convincing Kai Havertz to swap Bayer Leverkusen for Chelsea last summer.
The 28-year-old has become the highest earner at Stamford Bridge after joining the Blues for a club-record sum of £97.5 million on a five-year contract.
The Belgium international could be thrown straight into the mix in during Chelsea’s clash at Arsenal at the weekend, with Thomas Tuchel confirming that the forward is in line to feature against the Gunners.
Interestingly, Lukaku has revealed that he held a conversation with Kai Havertz, who joined the west London side in 2020, over a potential move to Chelsea when he faced off against Bayer Leverkusen with Inter Milan in the Europa League last year.
“I spoke to Kai Havertz when we played against each other in the Europa League, and I told him to go to Chelsea,” said Lukaku in his first interview since returning to the European Champions, as quoted by the club’s official website.
Havertz then went on to sign for Chelsea last summer for a reported fee of £71 million, in what was a major squad overhaul for the Blues under former manager Frank Lampard, who was replaced by Tuchel in January.
Lukaku is looking forward to getting started with his new side, and has stated that he has developed his game further during his time in the Serie A.
The marksman said: “I like the system that we (Chelsea) play, and I’m very flexible. I can play as a two or by myself, and I’m used to the system, because it’s what we play with the Belgium national team, so I don’t need much time to adapt.
“It’s just knowing the strengths of my team-mates in important positions and knowing what we (Chelsea) do off the ball, then I can do the rest.”