ROMELU LUKAKU insists he, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez were made Manchester United scapegoats last season.
The Belgian striker left Old Trafford for Inter Milan in a £73million move this summer but took a major swipe at the Red Devils.
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Speaking to the Lightharted Podcast – recorded before sealing his move to Italy but published today – Lukaku, 26, had his chance to respond to some of the criticism fired his way during his final year at Old Trafford.
He said: “They have to find somebody. It is Pogba, it is me or it is Alexis. It’s the three of us all the time. For me, I just see it in many ways.
“A lot of people don’t think I should be part of that system. That’s my feeling from the conversations that I have, I just know.”
Pogba drifted in and out of form throughout a turbulent season while Sanchez managed just one Premier League goal in the entire campaign.
Lukaku did not score for Manchester United after his Champions League double against Paris Saint-Germain on March 6, a run of eight games without a goal.
But in the two Euro 2020 qualifiers for Belgium against Kazakhstan and Scotland six weeks after his last United match, he bagged three.
The striker added: “For me, the thing that makes me laugh a lot is… how the hell is s*** going bad in my team, but when I play in my national team, it’s good? And I’m happy.
“I didn’t play the last six weeks of the league, like the last three weeks or something before the end of the season and then I had another three weeks off before I had to play for the national team, and then we go and play with the Belgium team and… rollin’ and I was there.
“And nobody there complains because I think the perception in my country is changing slightly.”
Is it me? Or do we need to have a conversation from man to man and tell each other the rules?
Romelu Lukaku
The weight of expectation for Lukaku upon arriving at Old Trafford was understandable.
United paid Everton £75m for his services, he was supposed to lead the line for years to come but didn’t work out as planned.
Lukaku continued: “A lot of people were saying a lot of stuff. For me it took years for a lot of people to change their perception. Manchester United might not get that time. It’s s*** that it happens like that.
“When I go and play for my country, we play the style of play that we want to play probably with Manchester United and I do well over there.
“So is it me? Four goals in the World Cup, three weeks ago I scored three goals in two games, and before that we played Switzerland and Iceland in September and I scored four goals in two games. I’ve scored 48 goals for my country.
“OK we all know that international soccer is different than club football but the playing style we play in the national team is the one we want to play at Manchester United.
“So is it me? Or do we need to have a conversation from man to man and tell each other the rules?”
Lukaku’s transfer saga rolled on and on throughout the summer before he finally joined up with Antonio Conte at the San Siro.
But with weeks of speculation over his future, the Belgian felt disrespected that United failed to publicly back him while still employed at Old Trafford.
He added: “I think a lot of stuff has been said, where I didn’t feel protected.
“A lot of rumours, ‘Rom is going to go there, they don’t want Rom’ and nobody came out and shot it down.”
Lukaku is set to make his Inter debut against Lecce on Monday night as he begins his new adventure in Serie A.
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