Romelu Lukaku has expressed his gratitude to Thierry Henry for the work they did together with the Belgium national team.
The 30-year-old was called for an interview with CBS Sports after Inter Milan sealed a place in the Champions League final by beating AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate last night.
The pair formed a strong relationship while Henry was an assistant coach with Belgium.
When asked about the Frenchman’s coaching style, Lukaku said: “Very, very old school, very strict. When we met I was in the last season at Everton, I think.
“To be honest, I told him that I want to hear it from you – give me the business, what can I do better?
“We sat together every day for that training camp for eight days, two days watching scouts of every game, every clip. There your touch was bad – there you did well. It was always half and half.
“Then from there I had my best year in the Prem – from there in the national team, I started scoring every game. I’m very grateful to him – he still does it today. I like it.
“Tough coaches that tell me the real things that I want to hear. You don’t want to be pampered all the time, I think.”
Inter have progressed to their first Champions League final in more than a decade.
They were impressive against Milan and comprehensively defeated their bitter rivals in the two-legged tie.
Simone Inzaghi’s side put themselves in control after they ran out 2-0 winners in the first leg last week.
The Nerazzurri didn’t face much resistance at the San Siro on Tuesday as Lautauro Martinez scored the only goal to help his side ease into the final.
Lukaku wasn’t part of the starting XI, but he came off the bench in the 66th minute and was impressive with his performance.
The Belgian set up Martinez for his goal, made three key passes and had one shot on target.
However, he has endured a disappointing 2022-23 season overall at Inter, with injury issues limiting his game time.
He has started only 16 Serie A matches, while all seven of his Champions League appearances coming off the bench.
The 30-year-old will likely return to Chelsea at the end of his loan spell this summer.
