The Belgian striker struggled terribly for the majority of the season, but has caught fire during the closing weeks of the campaign

"Inter is the most important thing" – Romelu Lukaku has said that so much in recent months it's almost become his catchphrase. He seems to mean it, though. Despite being relegated to the role of Edin Dzeko's understudy this season, there have been no complaints to the press, no public displays of petulance.

He has instead just focused on getting himself fit, and firing again. Which is exactly what he's done over the past six weeks, putting himself in serious contention to start Saturday's Champions League final in Istanbul.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has yet to make a final decision on who will face Manchester City, half-joking that he is racked by "daily doubts" over his team selection. However, as it stands, Dzeko is still expected to line up alongside Lautaro Martinez in attack, which feels like a potentially costly error of judgement.

Getty ImagesPhysical and mental problems

Of course, it's easy to understand why Dzeko moved ahead of Lukaku in the striking pecking order. Even when the Belgian returned to action after missing nearly the entire first half of the season through injury, he was struggling to control the ball – let alone put it in the back of the net.

Around the turn of the year, Beppe Bergomi wondered if Lukaku's problems were more mental than physical, and the man himself has subsequently admitted that Belgium's embarrassing World Cup first-round exit – and the role he played in it – took a heavy toll on him from a psychological perspective.

AdvertisementGetty Images'I let my country down'

In truth, Lukaku shouldn't have even been in Qatar, given he had yet to fully recover from what he later described as the worst injury of his career. Were it not for the fact that he was Belgium's all-time leading scorer, there's no way he would have been called up by former coach Roberto Martinez. Lukaku was also determined to do all he could for the cause. But he ended up doing more harm than good, particularly to his own well-being.

Having been only given the green light to feature in the closing stages of Belgium's final, must-win group game against Croatia, a clearly rusty Lukaku missed one gilt-edged opportunity after another. His frustration was obvious, with Lukaku having to be consoled by Thierry Henry after smashing up the Belgium bench.

"I let my country down," Lukaku later told . "Playing for your country is amazing, and when you play at the World Cup you want to make the best of it, because we all knew as players and staff that this was our last chance. And to go out in the way we did… I took everything into my mind when I left camp and I really felt down."

Getty Images'I don't want to ruin my body'

It would be some time before he recovered, in every sense. Lukaku began to question the wisdom of rushing himself back for the World Cup. He feared ending up like former Belgium team-mate Vincent Kompany, who had to retire at 33. "I weigh 102 kilograms and I sprint a lot," Lukaku said in an interview with . "I don't want to ruin my body."

It's telling that several key figures at Inter, including Inzaghi, CEO Beppe Marotta and vice-president Javier Zanetti, all repeatedly pointed out that Lukaku would require more games than most to get back up to full speed because of his formidable frame.

Such admirable patience was tested during a difficult spring for Inter, who looked in real danger of missing out on a top-four finish in Serie A after a dreadful run of domestic results. However, once Lukaku returned to form, so did Inter.

GettyInspiring Inter's purple patch

When the Nerazzurri arrived in Empoli on April 23, they had slipped to sixth in the standings, having collected just one point from their previous five league games. However, Lukaku scored twice in a 3-0 victory that inspired a stirring finish to the season that saw Inter finish third thanks to eight wins from their final nine outings.

The 30-year-old was directly involved in more goals (11) than any other Serie A player during that purple patch. Lautaro (10) ranks second on that particular list, while Dzeko (four) doesn't even make the top 40, which is why Inzaghi must put his faith in the 'LuLa' partnership in Istanbul.