Romelu Lukaku 's agent has revealed the Chelsea striker was thinking about a return to the club whilst he was still a Manchester United player.
Federico Pastorello claims his client was contemplating a move back to Stamford Bridge during his second season at Old Trafford, the term in which manager Jose Mourinho was sacked and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced him.
The 28-year-old was less favoured by Solskjaer during the proceeding months and was sold to Inter Milan the following summer, where he spent another two years and won the Serie A title.
But as Inter became strapped for cash in 2021, Lukaku was sold back to Chelsea - the club who initially brought him to the Premier League as a youngster - for £97.5million to fire Thomas Tuchel and co to the title.
"During his last season at Man United he always had Chelsea in his head," Pastorello told Sky Sports.
" Real Madrid as well I have to admit. That is another dream of his in terms of imagining his career, but Chelsea was always 100 per cent his target.
"They were the love of his childhood so there was always this desire to come back. It was a question of pride. He had that in his head and his heart."
The agent added: "The market can offer you certain opportunities. I consider them like trains passing and when the right train stops at the right place, you need to step in and leave.
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"I could tell summer 2021 would be an important market for him. Three or four top clubs were looking for important strikers and on the market there was not one for each club."
During an interview with HLN in September, Lukaku expressed his respect for Inter because the Nerazzurri had signed him while he was in a "deep hole" at United, with the marksman admitting would only leave the Italian giants to reunite with his beloved Blues.
"Kids love Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United. And Chelsea for me, everyone knows what Chelsea means to me," the Belgium striker stated.
"If they ask me, why would I say no? I only realised that Chelsea was serious at the third offer. So it was €100million [£85m], then it was €105m [£90m], and then it went to €110m [£94m]. Then I knew, this is truly serious.
"I was in a deep hole at Man United. I didn't want to go behind Inter's back," Lukaku, who is currently out injured, affirmed.
"So after training I went to [Inter boss Simone] Inzaghi 's office. I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere because I was no longer with my head in Milan. So I asked him: please find an agreement."
