Lukaku says 'could never turn back on Napoli' after treatment row

Romelu Lukaku on Monday defended his decision to undergo treatment in his home country rather than at his club after pulling out of Belgium’s World Cup warm-up matches in the United States.

The 32-year-old has barely played this season because of injury but said that success for Napoli and his national team were all he wanted.

“This season has been a lot for me from dealing with the injury and the personal loss (of his father),” Napoli striker Lukaku posted on Instagram.

“I know there has been a lot of noise about my situation in the last few days and it’s important to clarify the whole situation…

“The truth is the last few weeks I wasn’t feeling right physically and I had it checked out while I was in Belgium and it showed that there was an inflammation and liquid on my hip flexor muscle.”

After an injury-disrupted season, Lukaku withdrew last Tuesday from Belgium’s World Cup warm-up friendlies – skipping the 5–2 win over co-hosts the United States and missing the upcoming match against Mexico.

“I chose to do the rehab in Belgium… (But) I could never turn my back on Napoli, never,” he added, in response to internal criticism from the Serie A club and their supporters.

“There’s nothing more I would love to do than play and win (for) my team,” he said. “But right now I have to make sure I am clinically 100 percent cause I haven’t been recently and it took a toll mentally.”

Lukaku, Belgium’s all-time record goalscorer, said it had “been a lot this year”, but “all I want” is to “get there and help Napoli and the national team to their respective objectives”.

Having suffered a thigh injury during pre-season, Lukaku did not return to competitive action until January this year.

He has made just seven appearances for the Serie A champions in all competitions this term as they have endured a tough title defence — Napoli currently trail league leaders Inter Milan by seven points.