What Lukaku, Zlatan said about each other
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC and Romelu Lukaku were involved in a furious, X-rated row during Tuesday night’s Milan derby.
But a major bust-up between the two former Manchester United team-mates had been brewing for FOUR YEARS.
In an action-packed game at the San Siro, Inter Milan scored a 97th-minute winner to beat their fierce rivals 2-1.
Ibrahimovic and Lukaku both scored, with the Swedish superstar, 39, sent off in the second half.
But he was lucky to not be shown red earlier in the game, when he appeared to headbutt Lukaku.
In an incredible row, Lukaku (27) appeared to say ‘f*** you and your wife’ to Zlatan.
Ibrahimovic allegedly hit back, shouting: “Go do your voodoo s***, go do your voodoo s***, little donkey.”
The two strikers were both shown a yellow card and were kept apart as they stormed down the tunnel. But the clash shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, with Ibrahimovic and Lukaku’s row first starting in 2017.
That summer, Lukaku joined Man Utd from Everton in a £75 million deal, linking up with the Swede, who’d joined a year earlier.
The pair would fight for one starting spot in Jose Mourinho’s team that season — with Ibrahimovic making it clear he was willing to go to war.
Lukaku recalled: “I remember one training session . . .
“Because we were both strikers, we were never on the same team and, at one point, there was a 50-50 challenge.
“He went full-on against me.
“That is when I knew this guy wants to compete and this guy wants to fight for his spot.
“That is why he changed me. It was an eye-opener. The guy had to fight to be in the position he is in.”
But Zlatan didn’t just keep it at physical warfare, but mental too.
In 2019, the Swedish striker revealed he had a bet going with Lukaku at Man Utd training, saying he’d give the Belgian £50 for every decent first touch.
After Lukaku joined Inter, Ibrahimovic said: “I will say this on Romelu: don’t expect good technique from Lukaku.
“His best strength is sheer power. If only he’d listened to me . . .
“At Manchester United, we made a bet: ‘I’ll give you £50 for every decent first touch you make.
“He replied: ‘What do I win if I get them all right?’ I told him nothing, he would simply become a better player. For the record, he never accepted the bet. Perhaps he was afraid of losing.”
The war of words raged on as the pair rekindled their rivalry in Italy.
As Lukaku moved to Inter in the summer of 2019, Milan revealed they’d signed Zlatan in December the same year.
“There’s a new king in town (@RomeluLukaku9) February 9, 2020
Then:
“Milano never had a king, they have a GOD — Zlatan Ibrahimovic (@Ibra_official) October 18, 2020
As early as February 2020, Lukaku lit the fire under their row once again.
After scoring in Inter’s 4-2 derby win, the Belgian said: “There’s a new king in town.”
But Ibrahimovic had his revenge in October as AC Milan beat Inter 2-1, with the Swede scoring both. Zlatan, in typical manner, roared: “Milan never had a king, they have a GOD.”
However, it wasn’t all bad blood for the feuding forwards — who were once full of praise for each other. In 2017, early in their relationship, Zlatan told Sky Sports: “Lukaku is in the team, scoring a lot of goals — he’s making the job easier for me.
“Lukaku is only positive. He makes my comeback less pressured.
“He’s scoring his goals and doing what he needs to do, and I’m happy for that.
“We will see how things go, but I see it [the partnership] very strong.”
Lukaku echoed his positive vibes in 2019, saying: “Everything I learned from Zlatan was great, from his stories that he told me to being on the field working with him, seeing how competitive he was.
“I learned just to focus, work hard and enjoy it as well because he is a guy you can have a lot fun with as well and having his personality in the dressing room was good.” — Sun.