'If I played for Inter, I'd be top scorer!': Ex-Italy striker slams Lukaku

Stuart Telford

• 14 Mar 2023 16:25 GMT
• 3 min read

Romelu Lukaku has struggled since returning to Inter Milan on loan from Chelsea last summer, and now the striker has been slammed by club legend Christian Vieri.

Lukaku helped fire Inter to the Scudetto in 2021 with 24 Serie A goals, and signed for previous club Chelsea in a €115 million transfer at the end of that season.

But he struggled to repeat his goalscoring feats in West London, and despite being delighted at returning to the San Siro, has only mustered three in the Italian top flight this season, as worries about his weight and fitness swirl.

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Inter are Napoli's nearest challengers this season despite that, with Lautaro Martinez and Edin Dzeko picking up most of the goalscoring slack, but they are 18 points of their title-setting pace.

Vieri, who scored 123 goals in 190 games with Inter between 1999 and 2005, thinks they would be closer to Napoli if Lukaku was more efficient in front of goal.

Vieri: 'I'd be top scorer!'

"Inter create 10 chances per game at home, they play well," he said ahead of the Nerazzurri's Champions League meeting with Porto on Tuesday.

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"You have [Denzel] Dumfries who crosses, [Federico] Dimarco who crosses, you have [Nicolo] Barella.

"You have players putting Lukaku in a good position. I'll tell you one thing, if I played for this Inter team, I would win top scorer every year."

Some have urged Graham Potter to give Lukaku a chance back at Chelsea at the end of the season, with the Blues struggling in the No.9 department.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is for sale, not trusted by Potter having been signed by his predecessor Thomas Tuchel, while Kai Havertz, the incumbent in the position, has only scored six Premier League goals this season and is a midfielder by trade.

Lukaku has gone public with his desire to stay at Inter beyond this season, but for Vieiri - and many Inter fans - he hasn't done enough to warrant it.