Former Newcastle United transfer target Jordan Lukaku has confirmed he came 'really close' to joining the Magpies.
The Belgian international was identified as cover for Paul Dummett in January 2019 by Rafa Benitez, and was flown to Tyneside ahead of the usual medical and formalities.
Newcastle had agreed a temporary deal for the left-back, but the move failed to materialise and Lukaku returned to Rome.
Reports from Italy suggested the deal collapsed due to financial reasons, although this was swiftly denied by club sources.
Newcastle instead secured a loan deal for Monaco full-back Antonio Barreca, who would go on to make just a four-minute cameo appearance against Tottenham during his stint in black-and-white.
Lukaku is currently on loan at Royal Antwerp from Lazio, and took part in a question and answer session with SoccerBible.
The 26-year-old - who is the brother of former Chelsea and Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku - was asked whether he was close to signing at St James' Park.
Lukaku told SoccerBible: "Yeah, I was really close.
"At the time I was injured in both knees with patella tendonitis. It was really bad, so it didn't go through.
"Even a month after that, I had surgery on both knees at the same time."
