Lukaku told by Juventus star he's NOT wanted at the club
Carlo Garganese
- 16 Aug 2023 19:21 BST
- 4 min read
The popularity of Romelu Lukaku in Turin has taken yet another hit after Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli made clear his opposition to the club signing the Chelsea striker.
Fagioli liked an Instagram post by Gazzetta dello Sport, which showed Lukaku in a Tottenham shirt and detailed a report that Spurs were in talks to sign the Belgian as a replacement for Harry Kane.
This appeared to suggest that Fagioli would rather Lukaku sign for Tottenham than join him at Juventus.
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Siamo tutti Nicolò Fagioli. pic.twitter.com/B2DKtVf1y6
— Edoardo Mecca (@EdoardoMecca1) August 14, 2023
Juventus still hope to sign Lukaku from Chelsea before the end of the transfer window, regardless of the apparent failure to offload Dusan Vlahovic.
Juve had been in swap talks with Chelsea to exchange Vlahovic for Lukaku plus a cash sum paid by the Blues.
But Chelsea decided to pull out of negotiations last week.
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Nevertheless, even if Chelsea don’t resume talks for Vlahovic, Juventus are still keen on Lukaku.
The prospect of Lukaku moving to Juventus has not gone down well with most Bianconeri fans.
What did Juventus Ultras say?
Juve’s Ultras made an anti-Lukaku banner a fortnight ago which they held outside Juventus Stadium.
The banner read: “Lukaku stay in Milano. We already have a second goalkeeper.”
Juventus ultras with a banner to Lukaku: “Lukaku stay in Milan, we already have a second goalkeeper.” [Juventus Curva Sud via Daily Mail] #CFC pic.twitter.com/qd3INem7hJ
— CFCDaily (@CFCDaily) August 9, 2023
The goalkeeper reference was, of course, referring to the Champions League final when Lukaku stopped a goal bound shot from teammate Federico Dimarco that would have taken the match against Man City to extra time. As a result Inter lost the final 1-0 with Lukaku guilty of missing a sitter.
Their Instagram post accompanying the photo read: “Here you will never be welcome.”
Juventus fans also stormed the pitch during a pre-season friendly against Juventus’ reserve team to make their feelings known that they didn’t want Lukaku.
And now a Juventus player has joined in and seemingly revealed his opposition to Lukaku arriving.
Lukaku had originally been expected to return to Inter for a third time ahead of next season, having spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan from Chelsea.
However, the Nerazzurri suddenly stopped negotiations last month after being angered when Lukaku held talks with rivals Juventus behind their back.
As a result, Inter withdrew their transfer offer, leaving Juventus a free path to sign Lukaku.
