‘I will never forgive Villas-Boas’: Romelu Lukaku reveals he still holds a grudge against former Chelsea manager for leaving him out of the Champions League squad in 2012… and admits he refused to touch the trophy during the victory parade
- Chelsea won the Champions League in Munich during the 2011-12 campaign
- Romelu Lukaku was not registered but Roberto Di Matteo still took him along
- He celebrated with his team-mates yet refused to touch the trophy
- Lukaku blames Andre Villas-Boas for leaving him out of the squad initially
Romelu Lukaku has admitted he will ‘never forgive’ Andre Villas-Boas after being left out of the Champions League squad in the year Chelsea won the trophy.
Lukaku was a summer 2011 arrival at Stamford Bridge for a fee of £17million but rarely featured under manager Villas-Boas, instead spending the majority of the season in the reserves.
He was also not registered for the Champions League by the Portuguese manager and only made his first start for Chelsea in the Premier League in May – well after Villas-Boas had been sacked.
Romelu Lukaku says he has not forgiven Andre Villas-Boas since working with him at Chelsea
Lukaku (five rows back, third from left) at the Chelsea victory parade in May 2012
Roberto Di Matteo, Villas-Boas’ replacement, led Chelsea to an unlikely win in the Champions League and insisted that Lukaku, along with injured and suspended players, travel with the squad.
But Lukaku has now admitted he did not feel as though he truly deserved to be part of the celebrations – while praising Di Matteo.
‘(Roberto) Di Matteo told me that I would stay with the group until after the final,’ Lukaku told Het Laatste Nieuws, as reported by AD.
‘He thought everyone should come along, including the ones who were suspended and the few boys who were not in the Champions League squad. I am also grateful to him for that.’
Lukaku travelled for the Champions League final but was not registered for the competition
Even though he had the opportunity to celebrate with his team-mates in Munich, he was not happy.
He added: ‘This win is one of the things I’ve always dreamed about. You want to celebrate something like that with the team at that time.
‘That is nice in itself at the age of nineteen. I am happy for the whole club, but there is one man who took a lot from me: the previous trainer (Villas-Boas). I will never forgive him for that.’
Lukaku has now claimed that he refused to hold the Champions League trophy when they were celebrating.
‘I didn’t touch it with a finger,’ he said. ‘Because I didn’t win this trophy myself.
Lukaku training before the final in Munich, knowing he would not be involved in the game
‘This has been the case since I was eleven: if I have not contributed anything, it is not my trophy.
‘Only if you have contributed to a cup or a title yourself, you can also show it off.’
The Inter Milan striker also discussed the long-running issues between himself and Villas-Boas during his time at Stamford Bridge: ‘Once I had to play in the front left, another time in the front right. You don’t develop that way.
‘Then at some point you have to think about yourself. So I told the club what I thought of it. I know: Villas-Boas was also under pressure. But that’s why he didn’t have to treat me like that.
‘Di Matteo approached me completely differently, he immediately involved me in everything. That should have been much earlier. Really, I never forgave the previous coach.’