Romelu Lukaku has admitted he will “never forgive” Andres Villas-Boas after being left out of the Champions League squad in the year Chelsea won the trophy.
Lukaku was a summer 2011 arrival at Stamford Bridge for a fee of £17million but rarely featured under manager Villas-Boas, instead spending the majority of the season in the reserves.
He was also not registered for the Champions League by the Portuguese manager and only made his first start for Chelsea in the Premier League in May – well after Villas-Boas had been sacked.
Roberto Di Matteo, Villas-Boas’ replacement, led Chelsea to an unlikely win in the Champions League and insisted that Lukaku, along with injured and suspended players, travel with the squad.
But Lukaku has now admitted he did not feel as though he truly deserved to be part of the celebrations – while praising Di Matteo.
“(Roberto) Di Matteo told me that I would stay with the group until after the final,” Lukaku told Het Laatste Nieuws, as reported by AD.
“He thought everyone should come along, including the ones who were suspended and the few boys who were not in the Champions League squad. I am also grateful to him for that.”
Even though he had the opportunity to celebrate with his teammates in Munich, he was not happy.
He added, “This win is one of the things I’ve always dreamed about. You want to celebrate something like that with the team at that time.
“That is nice in itself at the age of nineteen. I am happy for the whole club, but there is one man who took a lot from me: the previous trainer (Villas-Boas). I will never forgive him for that.”
Lukaku has now claimed that he refused to hold the Champions League trophy when they were celebrating.
“I didn’t touch it with a finger,” he said. “Because I didn’t win this trophy myself.”