Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has revealed the role Didier Drogba played in convincing him to rejoin the club from Inter Milan.
Former Chelsea striker Drogba confirmed the move on Twitter by posting a picture of Lukaku alongside the caption ‘He’s coming home’ before it was announced.
Lukaku has conceded that the Ivory Coast legend – who he played alongside during his first spell at the club – helped convince him to return to Stamford Bridge.
‘Our relationship means the world to me. It’s not like we talk once a month, I talk to the guy every few days,’ he told Chelsea’s official website.
‘We have a group chat so we’re constantly communicating and I’ve been on the phone with him a bit more in the past two weeks.’
The 28-year-old confirmed earlier this summer that he would stay at Inter Milan but, due to a mixture of the Italian club’s financial struggles amid the pandemic and Chelsea’s strong advances, an agreement was reached.
The Blues paid a club-record fee in the region of £97.5m for Lukaku, in a deal that will also make him the highest paid player at the London club.
But, the Belgium inter has revealed he asked Drogba several questions about the club before making his mind up.
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‘I had a lot of questions to ask and he still knows a lot of people here so he really prepared me well with the last details.
‘Now I just need to get to know the players and the manager a bit better and just be available as quickly as possible for the team.’
The Belgian star trained with his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday, after serving a period of isolation that saw him miss Chelsea’s opening league game of the campaign against Crystal Palace.
Lukaku is expected to be fit and ready to make his debut from the start against Arsenal should Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel choose to select him.
