Romelu Lukaku makes string of incredible revelations before Belgium World Cup opener

ROMELU LUKAKU has given a fascinating insight into his childhood hours before Belgium’s World Cup opener.

Posted Tuesday, June 19, 2018 by Express.co.uk

Romelu Lukaku makes string of incredible revelations before Belgium World Cup opener
Romelu Lukaku has spoken out about his family's money worries

Lukaku, 25, is on £250,000-a-week at Manchester United but he has lifted the lid on an upbringing where his family were ‘broke’.

Such was the strife, Lukaku's mother Adolphine had to mix water with milk to make it last longer while also borrowing bread from the local bakery.

The Belgian striker, who will lead the line against Panama, said: “I remember the exact moment I knew we were broke. I can still picture my mum at the refrigerator and the look on her face.

"I was six years old, and I came home for lunch during our break at school. My mum had the same thing on the menu every single day: Bread and milk. When you’re a kid, you don’t even think about it. But I guess that’s what we could afford.

"Then this one day I came home, and I walked into the kitchen, and I saw my mum at the refrigerator with the box of milk, like normal. But this time she was mixing something in with it.

Romelu Lukaku makes string of incredible revelations before Belgium World Cup opener
Romelu Lukaku is now on £250,000-a-week at Manchester United

"She was shaking it all up, you know? I didn’t understand what was going on. Then she brought my lunch over to me, and she was smiling like everything was cool. But I realised right away what was going on.

She was mixing water in with the milk. We didn’t have enough money to make it last the whole week. We were broke. Not just poor, but broke.”

The incident occurred after the retirement of Lukaku’s dad after he hang up his playing boots.

"My father had been a pro footballer, but he was at the end of his career and the money was all gone,” Lukaku told the Players' Tribune.

"The first thing to go was the cable TV. No more football. No more Match of the Day. No signal.

Romelu Lukaku makes string of incredible revelations before Belgium World Cup opener
Romelu Lukaku spoke out before Belgium's World Cup opener with Panama

"Then I’d come home at night and the lights would be shut off. No electricity for two, three weeks at a time.

"Then I’d want to take a bath, and there would be no hot water. My mum would heat up a kettle on the stove, and I’d stand in the shower splashing the warm water on top of my head with a cup.

"There were even times when my mum had to “borrow” bread from the bakery down the street. The bakers knew me and my little brother, so they’d let her take a loaf of bread on Monday and pay them back on Friday.

"I knew we were struggling. But when she was mixing in water with the milk, I realised it was over, you know what I mean? This was our life.”