Mourinho: Lukaku Lacked Motivation

• Guardian, Thursday, July 31, 2014 2:46 PM

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, after his club sold 21-year-old Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku to Everton for $48 million, said it did so because he did not believe the striker had the motivation to fight for a place at Chelsea.

Lukaku, who assisted and scored in Belgium's 2-1 win over the USA in the 2014 World Cup round of 16, scored 16 goals in 33 appearances while on loan to Everton last season.

“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 in the Daily Mirror. “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 analyze these situations.”

Lukaku said he had left Chelsea without speaking to Mourinho. “I spoke with my agent and then from that moment on I left it up to him as I was on holiday."

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