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Romelu Lukaku is claimed to have played a role in convincing Manchester City forward Jeremy Doku not to join Chelsea years ago.
The Belgium international joined Manchester City this summer for £55 million from Ligue 1 side Rennes. However, he could have already been playing in the Premier League with the west Londoners if it wasn't for Lukaku.
Anderlecht's academy director Jean Kindermens says that the Belgian club were having difficulties keeping hold of young talent. Doku had emerged as their latest rising star at the time, aged just 15. He told the Sunday Mirror:
“I remember taking Romelu into my office about the problem of getting young players to commit to us – Doku in particular. Romelu replied, ‘Come on, pass your phone to me, I’m going to call him.'"
Lukaku is claimed to have held a video call convincing Doku to remain with Anderlecht:
“But I didn’t want to do that because a phone call gets quickly forgotten. So, instead, I got Romelu to convince Jeremy to stay. 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.”
Doku remained with Anderlecht till 2020 before he moved to Rennes aged 18. He became a massive hit at Roazhon Park, bagging 12 goals and 10 assists in 92 games across competitions.
However, Lukaku knew all too well the difficulties of breaking into the Chelsea first team at a young age. He struggled to do so during the early stages of his career after joining the Blues from Anderlecht's academy in 2009. He spent stints on loan at Everton and West Bromwich Albion where his stock truly grew.
The Stamford Bridge faithful may be disappointed to hear that they missed out on Doku years ago, given his meteoric rise. He has now joined Pep Guardiola's treble winners and looks set to be Riyad Mahrez's long-term replacement on the right wing.
Chelsea's current crop of wingers aren't quite impressing, with the likes of Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noni Madueke yet to reach the expected heights. Doku could have come in as Eden Hazard's replacement, with the Belgian leaving the west Londoners for Real Madrid in 2019.
Manchester City reportedly approached Chelsea about signing underperforming Marc Cucurella on loan
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano says that Manchester City made a loan enquiry to Chelsea regarding Marc Cucurella in January. The Spanish left-back has endured a miserable spell at Stamford Bridge since arriving from Brighton & Hove Albion for £56 million.
Cucurella, 25, has attracted interest from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 before the west Londoners won the race to sign him. However, he struggled for form last season, managing two assists in 33 games across competitions.
Neverthekess, Guardiola's side still held an interest in Cucurella, with Romano reporting that they had approached Chelsea in January with a loan proposal. The proposal also included a buy option, but it was rejected by the Stamford Bridge outfit. There has since been no follow-up interest from the reigning champions.
