Antonio Conte refuses to talk about Romelu Lukaku’s situation at Chelsea but hopes to see the former club play their best team in the Carabao Cup against their side Tottenham
Antonio Conte has kept a low profile on the situation of former player Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea.
Lukaku made headlines for an explosive interview he gave in December, where he said he was unhappy with his situation at Stamford Bridge and revealed his desire to return to Inter Milan.
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Lukaku’s future should become much clearer in the coming days.
The Belgian striker was left out of the Chelsea squad in his last outing, an exciting draw for Liverpool, and it’s unclear what the future holds for him.
Conte coached Lukaku at Inter and the pair won Serie A together last season.
The Belgian is hailed by the player himself for changing his career.
The pair could be reunited when Chelsea face Tottenham in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, however, the interview could see the reunion will be put on ice.
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Lukaku scored 30 goals last season as he and Conte helped Inter end Juventus’ grip on Italian football last season
And although Spurs boss Conte has been unwilling to talk about Lukaku, he is hoping to see Chelsea at their best for the game.
“Honestly, I would like not to talk about Romelu because Romelu is now a player from another team,” said the Italian.
“I think it would be disrespectful to talk about him and Chelsea.”
“I think it’s always a good thing to play against a team where all the players are available. I think for the people watching the game, I think I see the best players out there, â€added Conte.
Conte will return to Chelsea for the first time since leaving the club in the summer of 2018. He had great success there, however, he had an acrimonious start with a fierce court case over compensation payments to come afterwards.
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Conte has won two trophies in two years as Chelsea boss, including the Premier League in the 2016/17 season
But there is no more bad blood now when it comes to Conte.
“For me for sure it will be great to come back to Stamford Bridge [for the] first time after leaving Chelsea as manager, â€he said.
“What I can say is I had two amazing seasons, made a lot of friendships at the club.”
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