Romelu Lukaku thanks Jose Mourinho... for letting him leave Chelsea

Lukaku admits he was the one who forced a move away from Stamford Bridge

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Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has admitted that he was the one who agitated for a move away from Chelsea in 2013.

The Belgian has already scored 50 Premier League goals at just 22, but none of those came for the Blues - he played just 15 matches for Chelsea and never really got a chance to impress after Jose Mourinho returned for his second spell.

Mourinho's failure to integrate young players into the squad has been seen as a partial reason for his sacking by the club on Thursday.

As well as Lukaku, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Juan Cuadrado, Mohamed Salah and Ryan Bertrand have flourished away from Stamford Bridge after failing to impress the Portuguese.

However, Lukaku has revealed that he was the one who forced a move out of the club, as he wanted to play in the run up to the 2014 World Cup.

"I wanted to play and get minutes under my belt," Lukaku told BBC Football Focus.

"I never got the chance to say it but I would say thank you to Jose Mourinho.

"I had one conversation with him a few days before I left and I told him I wanted to go and I think he saw in my eyes that I really needed to play because it was the year of the World Cup.

"He was the one who gave me the green light to go."