Inter’s Lukaku and Martinez partnership ‘almost perfect’

Ronaldo has hailed Inter’s capture of Romelu Lukaku and believes the partnership with Lautaro Martinez will be “almost perfect”.

Belgian striker Lukaku returns to Inter following a disappointing season with Chelsea, where he fell down Thomas Tuchel’s pecking order following an interview where he expressed his desire to rejoin the Nerazzurri.

That move materialised in the current window, with Lukaku arriving on loan, having struck 30 goals across all competitions during Inter’s Serie A title-winning 2020-21 campaign.

Ronaldo believes Inter would have defended their title if Lukaku had remained at the club last season, when Milan narrowly pipped them to the crown, and rates him as a “guarantee” to shine in the upcoming campaign.

“It will be a good fight between Inter and Juve. I don’t see Milan as the favourite, even if whoever wins the Scudetto can never be considered out of the race. Inter could have won last year, Juve can’t afford another wrong year,” Brazil great Ronaldo told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Lukaku and Lautaro can be an almost perfect pairing. A lot of feeling, a lot of goals: things that are good for a team.”

“Inter lost the Scudetto by losing the derby and mishandling the only two months of difficulty of the season. It’s in those moments that you need courage, to win complicated games instead of drawing them. You need to cling to someone: clinging to someone as big as Lukaku is easier.”

Ronaldo, who played for Inter from 1997 to 2002, also shared his thoughts on the situation with Paulo Dybala, who was heavily linked to the Nerazzurri following the end of his contract with Juventus but eventually joined Roma.

“In football you can’t always do what you want, and maybe you want a certain thing, but you set yourself limits,” Ronaldo said.

Inter’s rejuvenation of their attack is set to continue with the departure of Alexis Sanchez, who is widely reported to have agreed to terminate his contract at San Siro.

A move to French outfit Marseille has been mooted for the former Arsenal and Manchester United forward.