Lukaku to back down over Chelsea spat but scars will remain
Robin Bairner
- 3 Jan 2022 22:04 GMT
- 3 min read
Romelu Lukaku, it seems, has been put in his place at Chelsea.
The Belgium international forward came out a matter of days ago to attack manager Thomas Tuchel and all-but declare that he regretted leaving Inter for Stamford Bridge in the summer.
It was an interview that sent shockwaves through Chelsea and the Premier League given that the Blues had paid a club-record £97.5 million barely four months earlier.
Lukaku was subsequently absent from the squad that drew 2-2 with Liverpool on Sunday.
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No doubt it has been a frustrating time for Lukaku, who went three months without a Premier League goal, admittedly partially due to injury, but there can be little defence of his words.
Quite what he was thinking when he gave the interviews, only he will know, yet it has done his reputation at Chelsea no good.
Indeed, if he felt that there was an unjust weight of expectation upon him before, that will only have doubled now after his open flirting with Inter.
Lukaku's interview backfires
Tuchel’s use of him seems to be his main gripe. It is clear that Lukaku is being more constrained at Chelsea than he was at Inter, asked to play more as a penalty-box forward, and that does not necessarily suit him, but if his words were a powerplay against the manager, they have failed.
With a contract tying him to the club until 2026, the arm wrestle with the club was never likely to end in the 26-year-old’s favour given that he risked squandering his peak years.
Following the publication of the interview, Tuchel gave the forward a very open dressing down in front of the rest of the squad, while he was backed by director Marina Granovskaia in talks held between the manager and the player on Monday.
Even owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly backed the former Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund coach in the dispute.
Lukaku, then, has been forced to back down, having been put in his place by senior figures at the club.
He may even be invited to return for the EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday against Tottenham.
Lukaku, though, has done long-term damage to his reputation at Chelsea. Time may even prove it to be irreparable. If leaving Inter was a mistake, then giving that interview was an even greater one.
