Jump directly to the content
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claims Romelu Lukaku lacked the motivation to stay and fight for his place at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku didn’t want to stay and fight for his Chelsea spot, claims Mourinho

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claims Romelu Lukaku lacked the motivation to stay and fight for his place at Stamford Bridge.

Everton completed the club-record signing of the Belgian on Wednesday night, paying a fee of £28million for the 21-year-old who scored 16 goals in 33 appearances on loan at Goodison Park last season.

Lukaku, who has signed a five-year deal, played just 15 times in three years at Stamford Bridge and had not enjoyed the best of relationships with Mourinho after disagreements about his loan spell last summer and then where his future lay in the long term.

But while Lukaku insisted he had no hard feelings towards his former club - despite not speaking to Mourinho prior to his exit - the Chelsea boss made plain why he had seen fit to sell a striker who had once been seen as the heir apparent to Didier Drogba when he signed from Anderlecht in 2011.

"Romelu was always clear that in his mentality and his approach he was not highly motivated to come to a competitive situation at Chelsea," Mourinho said.

"He wanted to play for Chelsea, but clearly only as first-choice striker - and at a club of our dimension it's very difficult to promise a player that status.

"That reduced immediately his desire to come to us. After that, Everton came with an important offer and because we want to be inside Financial Fair Play rules, you have to analyse these situations."

Topics