Romelu Lukaku has attempted to make peace with Inter Milan fans angry at his departure from the club.

The striker returned to Chelsea in a near £100-million move last month, having spent two years with the Serie A champions.

The Belgian was branded a ‘traitor’ by incensed Nerazzurri supporters, defacing a mural in Milan.

Speaking to Belgian newspaper HLN (via MailOnline), Lukaku said: “I only realised Chelsea were serious when they made their third offer.”

The 28-year-old had previously committed his future to Inter, for whom he scored 62 goals in 95 appearances.

Lukaku continued by praising Inter for saving him from a miserable spell with Manchester United, insisting that he didn’t want to go behind their back.

“[Inter] got me out of the s***,” he admitted. “I was in a deep hole at Man United.”

It’s understandable that the Inter faithful would feel let down by Lukaku’s apparent U-turn, but he’s hardly the first player to do so.

Still, grudges don’t die quickly in this game, and you can bet that if Chelsea cross paths with Inter in the Champions League – which is bound to happen because that’s just how these things work – Lukaku won’t be welcomed back to the San Siro with particularly open arms …