01 July 2023 , 06:30
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Romelu Lukaku encouraged his former Manchester United teammates Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez to quit Old Trafford after his own exit in 2019 - and they took his advice on board.
The Belgian striker originally signed for the Red Devils back in 2017 for £75m from Everton. Despite a decent record of 42 goals in 96 appearances in all competitions for United, he just never quite seemed to fit in at the club.
Just two years after signing, he was on the move once again as he made another big-money move - this time to Inter Milan. Lukaku enjoyed more success with the Italian giants as 64 goals over two seasons led the club to the 2020 Europa League final, whilst they also ended their long wait for a Serie A crown.
Just a short time into his first stint at the San Siro, the striker encouraged a couple of his former Red Devils teammates to follow him. The main reason he gave was reportedly a lack of ‘clans’ in Italy.
The first was Ashley Young, who brought to an end a successful eight-and-a-half-year stint at Old Trafford. At Inter, he linked up with Antonio Conte and more than played his role in restoring Inter back to their former glories.
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He explained his decision to leave United and was in no doubt that he’d made the correct call. "It's never easy to leave a club in January, but I'm looking back now and I think I made the right decision,” Young said.
Romelu Lukaku encouraged Alexis Sanchez to quit Manchester United for Inter Milan (Getty Images)Did Man United sell Romelu Lukaku too soon? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“I always wanted to go out and win. I've got that ambition, drive and desire to win. Obviously the first season we got to the Europa League final which unfortunately we lost.
“We also lost the league by one point and I think that might have spurred us on for this season to go out and get ourselves a trophy and win Serie A. Going out there and making that decision, I think it was the best one I made.”
Young left Milan after a season-and-a-half to return to former club Aston Villa, and has only just left for the second time. Whilst the winger-turned-defender enjoyed plenty of success with Inter, the same cannot quite be said of Alexis Sanchez.
The Chilean, signed from Arsenal, endured a rotten time of things with the Red Devils before seeing his deal cancelled. Things weren’t quite as bad in Italy as Sanchez made over 100 appearances, winning Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
He only scored 20 goals for the club in all before his contract was terminated to allow him to complete a move to French side Marseille. The forward has since claimed that he was not given a fair crack of the whip with Inter.
“I was calm at Inter, but did they give me the opportunity to prove myself?” he asked. “I said I would accept any criticism had they let me played and I’d done badly. In that case they would have been right to criticize me, but not if they judged me but didn’t give me an opportunity to prove myself. I felt like a lion in a cage.”
Sanchez’s debut season at the Stade Velodrome went very well as he scored 18 goals in all competitions.