“I couldn’t see myself staying at Chelsea, I sacrificed a year of my career with them and didn’t want to put up with it anymore. I decided in March I wanted to go out on loan, and told my agent to find me a club. On the first day of pre-season I told the manager I wanted to leave. Roberto Di Matteo told me I ought to think about Chelsea as there weren’t going to be many other strikers this season, but this is the time for me to think about myself. I got sick of watching the others from the bench. I just played 12 games and when I was playing well, they would take me off. I lost my hunger for the game over the past year. I won’t beat about the bush – my season at Chelsea went very badly. I wasted my time. Last season I was in the reserves alongside a young lad who’d barely turned 15 and I asked myself what I was doing there.” – Romelu Lukaku (Sky Sports)