"Either you speak or you shut up" - Former Italian player calls out Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku after his comments about recent transfer fiasco

Former Inter Milan defender Antonio Paganin has slammed Romelu Lukaku for saying that the latter will reveal details about his Chelsea exit that will 'leave everyone shocked'.

Lukaku was primed to re-join Inter Milan after returning from his loan spell with I Nerazzurri to Stamford Bridge this summer. However, Inter apparently backed out of the move after learning that the striker was also in talks with Juventus.

That was a dead end as well, as a swap move involving Juve's Dusan Vlahovic didn't materialize. Amidst the saga, the Belgium international was heavily criticized by Italian media, pundits, and football fans.

Ultimately, Lukaku joined AS Roma on a season-long loan spell. An excerpt from his quotes given to Sporza (h/t the Evening Standard) reads:

"Most of the people in the room know me. You know that I don’t like to beat around the bush. I will speak in time, but if I really said how it all went last summer, everyone would be shocked."

Paganin has now issued a response to the former Manchester United striker's quotes. He said, via FCInterNews.it (h/t SportWitness):

"I had appreciated the silence up until now. The moment you say, ‘I will speak’, the respect that was there disappears from me. We are certainly missing something, but now either you speak or you shut up."

Lukaku, 30, joined Chelsea in the summer for a then-club-record fee of £97.5 million. He hasn't played a game for them since May 2022.

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Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku is on fire for AS Roma this season

Romelu Lukaku has hit the ground running at AS Roma. To be fair, he hasn't had problems adjusting to Italian football, as evidenced by his two spells at Inter Milan.

Lukaku scored 78 goals and provided 23 assists in 132 games across competitions for the Milan-based giants. He has carried that form during his time at Jose Mourinho's Roma.

Lukaku has netted seven times for I Giallorossi in eight appearances across competitions. Five of those have come in Serie A while he scored a goal each in both of Roma's UEFA Europa League group-stage matches.

The Belgian's latest contribution came in the form of a brace in Roma's 4-1 Serie A win against Cagliari on October 8. He is currently with the Belgium national team for their UEFA Euros 2024 qualifiers against Austria and Sweden this month.