Lukaku Hits Back at Neville for Questioning Professionalism

Romelu Lukaku has fired back at pundit Gary Neville for questioning his professionalism, citing the praise of his former coaches as proof of his commitment to the game.

Lukaku completed a £74 million ($90m) move to Inter this summer, bringing to a close a two-year spell at Manchester United that was filled with ups and downs.

The Belgian was subject to criticism on the way out, with former United player Neville tweeting Lukaku, having admitted to being overweight “will score goals and do well at Inter Milan but unprofessionalism is contagious!”

"Don't question my professionalism," Lukaku told BBC Sport. "I live for this game. I am at home all the time. I try to do everything to improve."

"He (Neville) can talk about my fitness but he should never say anything about my professionalism, that I don't work hard enough. That is something he cannot say. All the coaches I have had say the same thing about me.

"What did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer say when I was on the training ground? What did he say? That I always work hard and always do my best to try and improve myself. Same with Jose Mourinho and Roberto Martinez. Now Antonio Conte will say it.

"Last year was just a bad year. It happens in football. You just have to move on. I am not going to sit here and react in a negative way.

"We are grown men. He is a pundit. He gets paid to say this kind of stuff. I am paid to play football. I just want to do my best for Inter Milan. That is it.