The mood of the Chelsea fans would not have been helped by the release of further quotes that again highlighted the fact that Lukaku had in fact started a much bigger fire than the one he had attempted to put out.

Lukaku said: “I’m always thinking about Milano, Milano, Milano… Inter fans are the best in the world. I love the city and the best moment of my career was at Inter. I am in love with Italy – I have Inter in my heart.”

The irony, of course, is that the interview was released at a time when Lukaku had started to do his talking on the pitch again for Chelsea. He turned the game in the club’s favour by scoring as a second-half substitute against Aston Villa on Boxing Day and also netted against Brighton this week. 

Lukaku played the full 90 minutes against Brighton and was one of Chelsea’s best players, so he should be going into the Liverpool game feeling stronger than ever and yet now he has put unneeded extra pressure on his broad shoulders.

Chelsea will understandably feel Lukaku, who cost £97.5million, owes them a big performance. The message from sources close to him on Friday was there is “zero chance” of a January move away from Stamford Bridge, but the player will be expected to reaffirm his commitment on the pitch on Sunday.

Lukaku’s agent Federico Pastorello was not involved in arranging what proved to be an ill-fated interview, but it will most likely be the Italian who helps to calm any residue tension between his client and the club.

Pastorello shares a close working relationship with Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia and the pair recently spent time together at the ‘Golden Boy’ awards at which they picked up prizes.

It was in an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport that Pastorello described how he had warned Lukaku that a “dream” return to Chelsea may not come around again as he pondered leaving Inter during the summer.

Pastorello said: “I had to tell him to remember that sometimes there are trains and when they pass, they don’t come back.”

As far as interviews go, Lukaku’s with Sky Sports Italia was a train wreck that will take some fixing if there is to be a fairytale ending to what was meant to be a dream return.