ROMELU LUKAKU hands out his number to younger players and sends them messages – as he does not want them to ‘feel star-struck’.
The striker was just 17 when he first joined Chelsea in 2011, surrounded by his idol Didier Drogba as well as legends in Frank Lampard and John Terry.
But by the time Lukaku re-joined the club, this summer for £97.5million, he returned as one of the finest forwards in the world.
The Belgium international has captained his country and even been tipped as a future Chelsea skipper by his manager Thomas Tuchel.
And now as a senior member of the squad, Lukaku, 28, prioritises being a role model and mentor to his current team-mates.
He said: “What I love about the younger players here is they are so dedicated to the game.
“You can see that each of them loves to work hard, so I just want to make sure they feel as good as they can be so they perform at the weekend.
“It’s the same thing when I’m with the national team – every time there is a new young player coming through, I always make sure he can talk to me and doesn’t feel star-struck by the players that we have.
“No, that’s not the goal; the end goal is to play, to perform, and that’s what I try to let them know.
“Sometimes with the new generation, I just DM them or send them my number, so they can call me if they need any advice or anything.
“It’s just stuff behind the scenes that you do to help the next Belgian footballer, or next player in the academy here.
“If they need some help, they can reach out.”
Lukaku, who speaks SEVEN different languages, made the comments in Chelsea’s match day programme before playing Norwich.
But he is ruled out of the game, and faces a month on the sidelines, after picking up an ankle injury against Malmo in the Champions League.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
