ANTONIO CONTE returned to England to do some shopping in the hope of super-charging Inter Milan’s bid to win Serie A.
But the bigger shock was that Old Trafford became the former Chelsea manager’s preferred place to fill his basket as he cherry-picked players to fight his former club Juventus.
Romelu Lukaku is flying the flag for the Prem Old Boys in Italy with Inter MilanCredit: Getty Images – Getty
CHARLIE WYETT went to the Milan derby to check on the progress of the ex-Premier League stars…
HE looked at the English-speaking stars and yelled “effort” and “commitment” before directing his anger back in his native tongue.
Antonio Conte was furious his team were 2-0 down at half-time and were being taken apart by 38-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic and AC Milan.
Perhaps that is why the Italian went back for Premier League stars who had been around the block — he knew he could get a reaction to go with their obvious ability.
Inter went out after the break and turned the game on its head to win 4-2. At the centre of the revolution is Romelu Lukaku, Inter’s success story of the season and a man now confident enough to declare to Zlatan: “There’s a new king in town.”
Some statement, even if it was a tongue-in-cheek social media post.
Manchester United’s transfer policy has played an unlikely part in potentially destroying Juventus’ eight- year dominance of Italian football.
Lukaku, Ashley Young and Alexis Sanchez, along with Christian Eriksen and Victor Moses, have swapped life in the Premier League to help the Nerazzurri in their attempts to clinch a first Scudetto in a decade.
Those stars now have a very real chance of pouring cold water over the stardust which Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa sprinkle in Turin.
CONFIDENCE BOOST
Inter has given them a new lease of life and if the atmosphere was anything to go by, they feel a lot more loved by their new faithful than those who had lost patience with them in England.
Perhaps that is all these quality players need at this stage of their careers.
With the pressure mounting on another Chelsea ex-boss Maurizio Sarri at Juve after a shock loss to Verona, Inter moved to the top on goal difference with Sunday’s thrilling win.
Lukaku, 26, looks completely transformed following his £73million summer move from United.
The Belgian striker looks fit, sharp and even quick.
He has lost a stone in weight and, remarkably considering those that have gone before him, he became the fastest player in Inter’s history to reach 20 goals when he bagged the fourth against his derby rivals.
Lukaku did it in 29 games compared to the 31 it took Brazilian Ronaldo and Uruguayan Ruben Sosa, while other legends like Adriano and Hernan Crespo took longer.
At home, tennis fan Lukaku has copied tennis star Novak Djokovic and installed an oxygen chamber to speed up recovery.
He said: “If you put the work in, everything will work out and the team has helped me and we have to keep going.
“It was a good win against Milan. In the second half, we showed what we are capable of.”
Under Conte, who won the title at Stamford Bridge in 2017, Lukaku has had little choice but to work himself into the ground.
I wanted a new challenge and I’ve got one. I’m loving every minute of my time out here.
Ashley Young
Many Manchester United fans were not bothered by Lukaku’s departure but struggling boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could do with him now.
Former Red Devils captain Young signed with Inter for 18 months.
The derby was his fourth game after he delivered an assist on his debut and was man-of-the-muatch in the 2-1 Coppa Italia quarter-final win over Fiorentina.
Young is playing left wing-back and while he found himself under pressure in the first half, he kept going and was full of energy.
After the game in the dressing room, Conte told 34-year-old Young he was “a physical freak” due to his impression of a Duracell bunny.
Asked whether the win was one of his career highlights, Young said: “It definitely is.
“I wanted a new challenge and I’ve got one. I’m loving every minute of my time out here.”
Sanchez is on loan from United while Eriksen made a January move from Spurs for £16.9m.
Finally, Conte nipped back to Chelsea and signed Moses, 29, on loan after he had a stint at Fenerbahce in Turkey.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
In the second-half comeback, Sanchez made his mark by setting up two goals even though, on the whole, it has been a nightmare loan spell due to constant injuries.
Playing alongside Lukaku, this was only his tenth appearance and second Serie A start since September.
It looks as though he has completely lost the pace, energy and drive which made him a success at Arsenal and also persuaded United — foolishly — to hand over £505,000-a-week in wages.
In this Inter side, sometimes he will have to settle for a few minutes at the end of games as a substitute but he will still have a part to play.
Eriksen, 27, returned to the bench after a poor full debut in a 2-0 win at Udinese.
He replaced Sanchez after Inter made it 3-2 and actually looked decent. The Danish midfielder went close to scoring with a stunning 35-yard free-kick which thundered against the woodwork.
Also making only his third Inter appearance was Moses who slotted in at right wing-back as a sub and delivered a clever pass for Lukaku to make it 4-2 in injury-time.
After the game, Conte — whose team are still in the Europa League and face Napoli in the Coppa Italia semi-finals first leg tomorrow — told his players that the aim is to make history and win everything possible.
But as Chelsea players discovered when he won, there is no such thing as an easy life under Conte.
The boss told Inter’s stars not to expect much rest and promptly scrapped their day off yesterday.
But for Lukaku, Young and Sanchez, it looks as though the best thing they did was to say arrivederci to Old Trafford.
Alexis Sanchez is on loan at the San Siro but his spell has been hampered by injuriesCredit: Rex Features
Christian Eriksen’s transfer saga was finally over when he joined Inter during the January transfer windowCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The comeback derby win over AC Milan was one of the highlights of Ashley Young’s careerCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
