Lukaku: "The truth is, I'm injured. I'm not turning my back on Napoli, but I need to be 100% fit."

The Lukaku situation arose following comments by Belgium manager Rudi Garcia, who had initially called up the Belgian striker but then confirmed that he would be dropped from the squad and would return to Napoli.

“Romelu Lukaku will not take part in the Belgian national team’s upcoming friendlies against the United States and Mexico. The Napoli player will return to Naples to optimise his physical condition.”

However, Lukaku did not return to Naples, causing chaos over his absence from Castel Volturno as agreed.

"This season has been tough for me," wrote Lukaku, "I’ve had to deal with an injury and a personal loss. Iknow there’s been a lot of speculation about my situation in recent days, and it’s important to set the record straight.

The truth is that I haven’t been feeling physically well in recent weeks. I had a check-up whilst I was in Belgium, and it turned out that there was inflammation in my hip flexor.

Given that this is the second problem I’ve had since returning at the start of November, I’ve decided to undergo rehabilitation in Belgium.”

"I imagine you’ve seen the interview I gave in Verona. I’ll never turn my back on Napoli; I just want to play and win with my team. But right now I need to be sure I’m 100% fit: I haven’t been recently, and that’s taken its toll on me mentally"

"It's been a tough year, but in the end I'll pull through and help Napoli and my national team achieve their respective goals. That's the only thing I want."