The former Red Devil admits he was considering playing for another Serie A side before moving to his present club.
Romelu Lukaku was”quite close” to linking Juventus this past year, but the opportunity to work with Antonio Conte proved pivotal in his decision to sign for Inter.
The Belgium global ended a combined two-year spell with Manchester United by linking Inter for a reported $80 million (#74m) commission in August 2019.
Lukaku has excelled in his debut campaign in Italy, scoring 23 goals in 35 outings in all competitions.
However, the 26-year-old has shown he almost joined among Inter’s fiercest rivals.
“I was close, very close [to joining Juve], but my mind was always set on Inter along with the supervisor,” Lukaku stated in an interview on Ian Wright’s YouTube station.
“As a child, I looked up to Adriano, Ronaldo and [Spiritual ] Vieri.
“Obviously when Inter arrived — and the director Conte desired me at Chelsea and Juve too — I wanted to go there and see what it was like, keep my head down and work.”
Lukaku has bettered his goals tally from all of his final season at United, where he dropped out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“One bad year can happen to everyone, and I was done [in United],” Lukaku, who thinks he made the right choice in leaving Old Trafford, included. “It was a challenging situation.
“I needed to make a choice over going someplace where I can learn different areas of my game and work with someone that wanted me too.
“Ole desired me to stay but I told him it was over. I didn’t have the energy. All credit to him since he has been a guy and he helped me make the move off.”
United have steadily improved in Solskjaer’s first full campaign in charge after the January signings of Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo, the latter coming on a first loan.
“They’re going the correct way since they’re bringing in the perfect players,” Lukaku stated. “Ole is doing a fantastic job and the results are great.
“I wish them nothing but the finest. As a club, they gave me a stage that I hadn’t ever seen in my entire life.”
Lukaku and the complete Inter squad are now in self-isolation after enjoying a Serie A match against Juventus where replacement Daniele Rugani then tested positive for COVID-19.
The Belgium striker admits that the quarantine has been demanding as he is not able to see family and has to find ways to stay fit while stuck indoors.
As it stands, many do not anticipate the Serie A season to restart till May at the earliest with first hopes of a return to action in April now extremely improbable.
