Inter Milan’s striker Romelu Lukaku has claimed that “23 out of 25” players in Inter Milan’s first-team players displayed covid-19 symptoms at the end of 2019 but were not tested for the virus.
In an Instagram Live interview with Belgian television channel VIER, Lukaku swore that majority of the players that returned from a break had what appeared to be symptoms of Coronavirus.
“We had a week off in December, we returned to work and I swear that 23 out of 25 players were ill. I am not kidding,” said the Belgium international.
“We played against Radja Nainggolan’s Cagliari (on January 26) and after about 25 minutes, one of our defenders had to leave the pitch. He could not continue and almost fainted.”
Although the Belgian refused to mention his name, but the player appears to be Skriniar who was substituted after 17 minutes of that game.
Lukaku also noted that he experienced an unusual fever he hadn’t suffered in years.
“Everyone was coughing and had a fever,” Lukaku said. “When I was warming up, I felt a lot hotter than usual. I hadn’t suffered from a fever in years.
“After the game there was a planned dinner with guests, but I thanked them and went straight to bed. We never did the COVID-19 tests at that moment, so we’ll never know for sure.”
Italy remains one of the worst coronavirus-affected countries in Europe with the country’s first official cases reported on January 31.