Lukaku accuses Man Utd of failing to “protect” him during exit saga

Romelu Lukaku has criticised Manchester United for failing to quash potentially harmful media rumours before his transfer to Inter Milan.

The striker, who left United for Inter earlier this month, believes the Red Devils did not “protect” him amid accusations he did not deserve to play for the club and was not willing to fight for his place.

What is Lukaku accusing Man Utd of? Five key things to know…

• Lukaku joined Inter earlier this month following weeks of transfer speculation.
• The 26-year-old believes United should have shut down potentially harmful rumours during the saga.
• There were accusations Lukaku was not worthy of staying and fighting for his place.
• He claims those suggestions were leaked to the media, but not by him or his agent.
• Lukaku finished his United career with 42 goals in 96 appearances.

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Suggesting the rumours were being fed to the media, Lukaku denies that neither he or his agent were responsible for the leaks.

The Belgian thinks United should have shut down the rumours and has revealed their failure to do so played a part in his decision to leave.

“A lot of stuff has been said where I didn’t feel protected,” Lukaku told the Lightharted Podcast with Josh Hart – an NBA star for the New Orleans Pelicans – in an episode recorded before his move to the San Siro.

“I felt like a lot of rumours, ‘Rom going there’, ‘they don’t want Rom’, and nobody came out to shut it down.

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“It was for a good three, four weeks. I’m waiting for someone to come out and shut it down. It didn’t happen.

“I had my conversation, told them it was better to go our separate ways. If you don’t want to protect somebody, all these rumours come out. I just wanted you to say ‘Rom is going to fight for his place’, but it never happened for four, five months.

“It was all, ‘he’s got to go, he doesn’t deserve to be there’. Well OK, then I want to go now. There is fighting for your position, but also being somewhere that people want you to be.

“If you’re happy, you find a way, it doesn’t matter if you’re on the bench or starting. But nobody told me that was the situation, so I thought for two, three weeks to analyse, see all this **** coming out in the media. Who leaks it? Not me. Not my agent. I see it on my phone come out of nowhere.

“I told them it’s not good for me to be at a place where I’m not wanted. We’re not stupid. They consider us dumb, but we are not dumb, we know who is doing leaks and stuff. I told them, you can’t be working like this, it’s better for me to go now.”

Anthony Martial has been playing through the middle for United in Lukaku’s absence, scoring in each of his two appearances so far this term.

Lukaku could make his Inter debut against Lecce in this weekend’s opening round of Serie A fixtures.