Inter forward, Romelu Lukaku, has claimed he’s ‘one of the top five strikers in the world’ and said the Nerazzurri ‘must fight to win the Scudetto’.
Inter ended second in Serie A, reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and finished runners-up in the Europa League last season, now Lukaku stressed he ‘works to win titles’ with the Beneamata.
“I’m one of the top five strikers in the world,” Lukaku told France Football. “I can’t do anything wrong from a tactical point of view or even the movements.
“If Cristiano Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi or [Robert] Lewandowski have exceeded their limits, why can’t I do it too?”
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Lukaku said it’s ‘a bit early’ for the comparisons with former Nerazzurri forward and Brazil international Ronaldo.
“He scored more than 100 goals for the national team, it’s a bit early to make comparisons,” Lukaku added. “In Milan everyone was talking to me about Ronaldo’s 34 goals in his first season.
“I’m glad I matched it, yes. But he won the UEFA Cup, and I lost the Final. Now, I work to win trophies.”
But the Belgium international said he has a connection with coach Antonio Conte.
“The coach told me that if I became strong with my back to the goal, no one could stop me,” he said. “He told me about it at the 2014 World Cup, before he left Juventus and repeated it to me when he was at Chelsea.
“[Eden] Hazard acted as the middleman; he gave my number to the sporting director at the Blues. The latter called me and told me the new Chelsea coach wanted me.
“But I still didn’t know who their new coach was. When I arrived at the meeting, I saw Conte and I should have expected it, it could’ve only been him.”
Lukaku said he has a good relationship with his Argentine colleague Lautaro Martinez too.
“Before coming to Inter, I had seen a lot of their matches. Lautaro was playing alone up front and I immediately thought we could cause harm.
“When I arrived, we spoke a bit in Spanish and that was the turning point. Sometimes it’s my day, sometimes it’s his day. We have found the right balance and get along well together.”
Lukaku said Inter have to ‘fight for the Scudetto’ and claimed his mentality might have helped him avoid injuries.
“We are Inter, we must fight to win the championship. I think it’s the minimum, but we’ll see in March,” he said.
“Physically, I’m strong. If I have a good athletic preparation, there are no problems. I think it’s also a question of mentality.
“Last summer I only took eight days of vacation, but it never occurred to me to say that I wasn’t getting enough rest.
“If I had though this, it would have been easier to get injured. I’d rather think about preparing hard to show everyone how much I’m worth.
“And the same goes for the matches. You have to be happy to play, even many times a week.
“I believe that those who look closely at the matches see everything. I observe and add something to my experience, year after year. It’s like my drug.”