“Without health guarantees, why play? Milan very different from my arrival”

After the interview given to Ian Wright, Romelu Lukaku he talks via Skype from his home in Milan also with Taylor Rooks, journalist of Bleacher Report, in relation to the situation that is currently happening in Italy: “Milan is silent at the moment, there is no one around. It is very different than when I arrived; at the time there were a lot of people on the street, the restaurants were full, even the area where I live was full of people outside. Now there is none of this. Now I’m in self-isolation because after we played against Juventus, one of the players (Daniele Rugani, editor’s note) tested positive for Coronavirus. When I look out onto the balcony, I see a completely different panorama. The whole team is in self-isolation to see if any of us accuse the symptoms: we have to measure the fever every day, maybe we will be subjected to a buffer when we return to gather on March 25th. I think it will happen because no one has shown symptoms related to this virus, although now there are positive people who have shown no effects“.

But what emotions do you feel about it? Are you nervous, afraid?

“I wouldn’t say I’m scared. But it is like living in a bubble, you try to understand what is happening and at the same time you know you are in the most affected country in Europe. And that’s why you don’t see what’s going on, in some cities you only hear ambulance sirens going back and forth. I already knew it was only a matter of time before any player contracted the disease. Unfortunately it happened, now see how the list is filling up. It’s difficult because you miss the sport you love, but overall health is much more important than football now”.

But now what do you do during the day?

“After I wake up, I do bicycle training. Then I use a device called Tecar which helps my muscles, in particular damaged tissues after every sport. It is also useful for heating and recovery. Then I also have my hyperbaric chamber, I saw that Lebron James had one and therefore I wanted one as soon as possible. When we played regularly, instead of going to bed after every game, I had a session here. Since we play football at high rhythms, pressing hard, the question is to recover condition quickly. I don’t think there are three weeks to get back to the ideal shape, since maybe we play a game 10 days after another and then in those ten days you have to be sure of maximizing your conditions. Now I try to work hard on the bicycle with the resistance bands; then you have to eat right and drink lots of water, so that, when you return to competitive activity, the first 4-5 days will be crucial for me. But I think I’ll be in top form, so ready to start again. ”

How would you like the business to start again?

“The first thing for me is to ensure general health. If we have to play in conditions that do not guarantee health, why should we play? We still run the risk of having sick players. ”

How is your family?

“They are all in Brussels except me. My mother went away as the epidemic started to spread. I called all the people I know in Belgium, telling them I needed a plane for her. I called at noon, she left at four in the afternoon “.

How are your companions? How often do you talk to each other?

“I spoke to some of my classmates yesterday, those who live in the building opposite mine. They are worried because we miss being able to attend, we are a team with excellent chemistry and all this makes things a little difficult. But we always feel, we have a chat on WhatsApp where we talk every day. The boys send funny videos. Some of us are in a lucky position, and I think that when all this is over, we will realize that we must take care of what we have. ”

What goal would you like to achieve during this period alone?

“I use this time to reflect and understand what I can do best for my family. Since I was a kid, the main thing for me has always been my family. ”