New Inter striker, Romelu Lukaku, has revealed how former Chelsea and Monaco sporting director, Micheal Emenalo, convinced him to join Everton from West Brom on his return to Chelsea following the completion of his loan deal from the Baggies in 2013.
The Belgian struggled to nail down a first team shirt at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho and had to seek first team football elsewhere.
And Lukaku recounted to tribalfootball how the former Blues director over the phone influenced his decision to snub a return to Hawthorns for a new adventure with Everton.
“I came there and I just wanted to play! At that moment I was in a difficult situation at Chelsea, I just turned 20, at the end of the season we had the World Cup in Brazil.
“I really wanted to play in a team that plays good football and where I’d be in the starting 11. I wanted to go back to West Bromwich Albion. I wanted to go back there; I already received the whole training schedule from West Brom for the whole month.
“Then Everton came with Roberto Martinez. He called me two hours before the deadline.
“However, Michael Emenalo called me, the old managing director of Chelsea, and said, ‘You did well at West Brom, but you need to try and play for a club who’s closer to the top.”
Source: Punch
