A picture of a 13-year-old Romelu Lukaku has resurfaced online following reports that the Inter Milan striker has rejected an approach from his former club Chelsea this summer.

Aged just 13, a young Lukaku already looked like he was well on his way to becoming the big, hulking football giant we know today, now 28 and set to lead Simone Inzaghi's forward line in Serie A. 

The boy Lukaku, who towers head and shoulders above the referee, could have only dreamed of becoming Belgium's all-time leading goalscorer then - a feat he achieved after scoring a goal in a 3-0 win over Egypt in June 2018.

But it set the tone for the man who would go on to become a goal machine for Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan, and his country.

In his second full season at the club, Lukaku scored 26 goals across all competitions, was the Serie A's second-highest goalscorer (behind a certain Cristiano Ronaldo), and was voted Serie A Player of the Year. 

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BELGIUM BORN AND BRED

Before five-time European champions Anderlecht stumbled upon the forward's talents, the Antwerp-born Belgian striker was just another youngster dreaming of making it to the big leagues. 

At the age of five, Lukaku began playing for his local club Rupel Boom, before eventually being discovered by scouts from Belgian Pro League club Lierse. 

And according to his former agent Mino Raiola, Lukaku's mother was forced to bring her son's birth certificate to youth games to prove he was the right age. 

Raiola told Swedish paper Expressen in 2017: "Their first question is whether he is black or white.

"I ask what the hell does it matter? Do you think this happens in American sport? Scottie Pippen, is he black or white? Who in hell cares? Can he play basketball? Can he play soccer?

"For Lukaku, this has always been a problem. I was talking to his mother. Eventually she went to youth matches with birth certificate.

"She always ended up with other parents who did not think he was 12 or 14 years old. It was always a fuss that he scored three or four goals.

"He was bigger and physically strong, yes. But they screamed that it was not in the right age.

"So she took the birth certificate. He was born in Belgium, but they spread false reports he been born in Africa. 'Here it is', she said."

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