Romelu Lukaku has revealed José Mourinho was the first person to wish him luck when he signed permanently for Everton and denied the former Chelsea manager was responsible for his Stamford Bridge exit.
The Belgium international described Mourinho’s sacking by Chelsea as “mad” in an interview with the Guardian and denied claims his £28m transfer to Goodison Park followed an acrimonious fall-out with the Portuguese coach. Chelsea’s decision to sell the striker and Kevin De Bruyne in 2014 has rebounded spectacularly this season, with their former players flourishing at Everton and Manchester City respectively.
But Lukaku insists he pushed for the move to Everton, where he enjoyed a successful season on loan in 2013-14, and has only respect for the way Mourinho handled the situation.
“Choices were made by me. By me. Not by them,” said the 16-goal forward when asked if he regretted not staying at Chelsea given their need for fresh quality. “Everyone says it is Mourinho’s fault but it is not his fault because I made the decision. I went to his office to ask if I could go. He was the first one to say: ‘Good luck.’
“I signed the deal with Everton at 11 o’clock and the first text message I got on my old BlackBerry was from Mourinho saying: ‘Good luck, do your best and I will see you next season.’ He was the first. Nobody knows that and that is why for me he gets immense respect. It is really sad he has to go. He is a great character and a great man. Even though there were words said in the media, I never looked at it because I know what he did and not a lot of managers would do that.”
Lukaku admitted he was stunned Mourinho had left Chelsea having won the Premier League title last season. The Everton striker added: “It’s hard, it’s tough. Seven months ago, they won the Premier League by playing some wonderful football. It’s mad, mad. When I heard the news I thought: ‘Wow.’ That was the only thing I could say.”
