Romelu Lukaku appears to have burned his bridges at Chelsea – and he's seemingly been intent on taking others with him.

That's after details emerged regarding the Belgian's hand in steering compatriot Jeremy Doku away from west London while he was still on the books at Anderlecht. Lukaku came through the ranks in Brussels himself before moving to Stamford Bridge in 2011, but he spent much of that first stint with the Blues impressing on loan at West Brom and Everton.

He eventually joined the Toffees on permanent terms in 2014, and it was some time after that when Doku – who joined Premier League rivals Manchester City this summer – was attracting Chelsea's eye. However, Anderlecht academy director Jean Kindermans recalled how intervention from Lukaku prevented the then-15-year-old from moving.

“I remember taking Romelu into my office about the problem of getting young players to commit to us – Doku in particular,” Kindermans told the Sunday Mirror. "Romelu replied, ‘Come on, pass your phone to me, I’m going to call him.'

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“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."

Whether that call was made out of love for his old academy or scorn for Chelsea, it resulted in Doku remaining loyal to Anderlecht. The winger eventually moved to French outfit Rennes in 2020 before joining Pep Guardiola's ranks in a £55.4million move last month.

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The timing of the call places Lukaku either at the end of his Everton days or just starting out with Manchester United at the time. Regardless, his words apparently had the desired effect in convincing Doku his interests were better-served by not moving to west London at the time.

And despite moving back to the Bridge himself in 2021, it would appear Lukaku feels the same after heading to Roma on loan this season. After impressing with Inter Milan, the frontman moved back to Chelsea in 2021 for £97.5m, making 44 appearances in his second stint before rejoining the Nerazzurri on loan last term.

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Now a part of Jose Mourinho's project in Rome, Lukaku's Chelsea future will become a topic of discussion next summer given he has three years remaining on his deal. However, it's likely even more fans will be eager to not see him back in blue in light of this latest revelation.

That animosity is sure to be ramped up even further should Doku turn into a hit acquisition for rivals City. The Belgian made his Premier League debut in a 5-1 win over Fulham and could come up against the club that once tried to lure him as a teen in November.

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