Vieri: Lukaku must prove himself again at Inter

scored 24 goals and helped Inter to win the Serie A title in the 2020-2021 season. He joined

last summer for €110 million but only started just 16 Premier League games and scored only 8 goals.

is close to securing the return of the 29-year-old striker from Chelsea on a loan deal.

"I wouldn't want to talk about players who haven't signed yet. We'll see how it ends, the teams are working to become stronger and stronger,"

Vieri said on his podcast.

"He is still a great player, he has scored many goals all over the world. Last year he did very badly with Chelsea, with few games and very few goals.

"If he returns, he will have to prove that he is the Lukaku seen at Inter.”

The Nerazzurri supporters group Curva Nord issued a statement on Wednesday and insist they have not forgotten about Lukaku's decision to leave Inter.

"He was supported and treated like a king, now he is one like another player,"

the group posted on Instagram.

"We took note of Lukaku's betrayal and we were very upset.

"To a footballer, these things can be forgiven over time, but they remain. Let us also be clear to everyone that we will never cheer against Lukaku if he wears the Inter shirt again.

"However, we invite all Inter fans not to fall into the trap of running immediately and drooling after him.

"In addition to a clear instinctive emotional aspect, pretending that nothing has happened, would only give a further acceleration to that process that has been going on for years aimed at making us all stupid and supine consumers."

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