Romelu Lukaku Advised Jeremy Doku Not to Join Chelsea Years Before Man City Move

• Romelu Lukaku stepped in to prevent Jeremy Doku from joining Premier League clubs a couple of years back
• Lukaku, like Doku, had started his career at Anderlecht before moving to the Premier League, where he initially struggled
• The younger Belgian has since joined Manchester City after two years in France with Ligue 1 club, Rennes

Jeremy Doku could have been a Chelsea player now had he not listened to the advice of Romelu Lukaku a few years ago.

The Belgian, who recently signed up for Manchester City, had just caught the attention of top Premier League clubs before his 16th birthday while still at Anderlecht.

Ordinarily, he was tempted to make the switch and move to England, only for Lukaku to step in and tell him to stay put in his boyhood club for a few more years.

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Lukaku had similarly begun his career at Anderlecht before moving to Chelsea in 2011 aged 18 years. He struggled for game time at Stamford Bridge before being sent out on loan to West Bromwich Albion and Everton, where his career in England took off as captured by Planet Football.

Lukaku's advise to Doku

The striker seemingly did not want his younger compatriot to go through a similar route, advising him to be more patient at Anderlecht before making a decision, as revealed by the club's director, Jean Kindermans.

"I remember talking to Romelu about the problem of getting young players to commit to us – Doku in particular. I got Romelu to convince Jeremy to stay," said Kindermans, as quoted by the Evening Standard.

"I still have the video on my phone. On it, you can hear Romelu giving advice to the Doku family, saying ‘Hey, guys, stay with Anderlecht for a while, you’re good’ and so on."

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Doku eventually went off to French club Rennes, where he stayed for two years before Manchester City came for him this summer as a replacement for Riyad Mahrez.

Lukaku's agent blasts Saudi Pro League

At the same time, Sports Brief has reported that Lukaku's agent has blamed the Saudi Pro League (SPL) for his client's difficult summer transfer window. The Belgian striker ended up joining AS Roma on loan late last month.

The 30-year-old spent last season on loan at Inter Milan and helped them reach the Champions League final, but struggled to find a new home in the summer.

Lukaku rejoined his former club Chelsea for £97.5 million in 2021 but fell out with manager Thomas Tuchel before returning to Inter last season.