ROMELU LUKAKU believes he and most of his Inter Milan teammates contracted coronavirus as early as January.
The Belgian made the stunning claims in HLN, explaining that 23 out of 25 first-team stars all got sick during a week off at the start of the year.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus in sport live blog for the latest news & updates
Romelu Lukaku fears he and his Inter teammates may have played a game with coronavirusCredit: Reuters
To make matters worse, Inter then had to immediately play a Serie A game against Cagliari at the San Siro.
The match ended 1-1 as Inter receive two late red cards.
Antonio Conte’s men also suffered an early blow when star defender Milan Skinriar was forced off the pitch with just 17 minutes on the clock.
And Lukaku claims the Slovakian was so ill with coronavirus that he “almost passed out”.
However, Lukaku admits he will never know if he and his teammates did indeed have Covid-19 as they were never tested at the time.
Give now to The Sun’s NHS appeal
BRITAIN’s four million NHS staff are on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.
But while they are helping save lives, who is there to help them?
The Sun has launched an appeal to raise £1MILLION for NHS workers.
The Who Cares Wins Appeal aims to get vital support to staff in their hour of need.
We have teamed up with NHS Charities Together in their urgent Covid-19 Appeal to ensure the money gets to exactly who needs it.
The Sun is donating £50,000 and we would like YOU to help us raise a million pounds, to help THEM.
No matter how little you can spare, please donate today here
www.thesun.co.uk/whocareswinsappeal
The former Manchester United and Chelsea striker, 26, said: “We had a week off in January. We came back and I swear 23 out of 25 players were sick. No joke.
“We played at home against Radja Nainggolan’s Cagliari and after 25 minutes one of our defenders had to leave the field.
“He couldn’t go on and almost passed out.
“Everyone was coughing and having a fever. It also bothered me.
“When I warmed up, I got much warmer than usual. I hadn’t had a fever in years.
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS – BE IN THE KNOW
Get the latest coronavirus news, facts and figures from around the world – plus essential advice for you and your family.
To receive our Covid-19 newsletter in your inbox every tea time, sign up here.
To follow us on Facebook, simply ‘Like’ our Coronavirus page.
“After the game there was another dinner with invitees from Puma on the program, but I thanked them and went straight to bed.
“We were never tested for corona at that time, so we will never know for sure.”
Italy has been one of the worst-affected countries hit by coronavirus, and was the first European country to seriously suffer its effects after the outbreak from China.
Over 24,000 people have died while nearly 182,000 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed.
And Lukaku showed his support to the Italian health service by donating £88,000 last week.
He added: “I contributed 100,000 euros to a hospital in Milan. I’ve never done things like this before, I never thought about it.
“As I get older, the more I realise that I have a platform to help people.
“I am here in Italy and have been received very well here. It is nice to support the people here.”
Inter drew 1-1 against Cagliari the day after 23 of the 25-man squad returned from a week off extremely illCredit: Reuters
Juventus to make Icardi transfer move by offering PSG Pjanić and Sandro before he officially joins from Inter Milan
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
