Romelu Lukaku has told Gary Neville not to ‘question’ his professionalism after the former Manchester United defender criticised the striker.
The 26-year-old was called ‘overweight’ by Neville on Twitter earlier this month shortly after he joined Serie A side Inter Milan on a five-year deal in a £74million move.
But the Belgium international took exception to Neville’s comments in an interview on Friday.
‘Don’t question my professionalism,’ Lukaku told the BBC. ‘I live for this game. I am at home all the time. I try to do everything to improve.’
Lukaku added: ‘He (Neville) can talk about my fitness but he should never say anything about my professionalism that I don’t work hard enough. That is something he cannot say. All the coaches I have had say the same thing about me.
‘What did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer say when I was on the training ground? What did he say? That I always work hard and always do my best to try and improve myself. Same with Jose Mourinho and Roberto Martinez. Now Antonio Conte will say it.
‘Last year was just a bad year. It happens in football. You just have to move on. I am not going to sit here and react in a negative way.
‘We are grown men. He is a pundit. He gets paid to say this kind of stuff. I am paid to play football. I just want to do my best for Inter Milan. That is it.’
Lukaku has now lost half a stone in weight after sticking to a strict nutrition regime under Inter boss Antonio Conte.