Lukaku must apologise to the FANS to repair Chelsea relationship
Cameron Smith
- 4 Jan 2022 15:50 GMT
- 4 min read
Well, Romelu Lukaku has apologised, Thomas Tuchel has revealed he's ready to move on, and all seems slightly settled at Chelsea.
Except that isn't really the case.
While the relationship between player and manager may appear harmonious in public, there's no guarantee that it's the same behind the closed doors, and although Lukaku is back in training, and in the first-team squad for the visit of Tottenham in the cup, there's still a long way for him to go to redeem himself.
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First, he's got to perform on the pitch, and ensure his on-field relationship with his Blues team-mates remains strong. It simply won't work if his fellow Chelsea players don't trust him; he needs to repair those bonds quickly. Tuchel may have forgiven him, but there's no guarantee the players will be as easily persuaded that the quotes had no intention behind them.
However, the biggest worry for Lukaku, and the issue he desperately needs to fix soon, is his relationship with the fans.
When he re-joined in the summer, the move was greeted with wild celebrations. He was returning home, and Chelsea fans were delighted. Of course, the fact he's a world class striker capable of delivering trophies to Stamford Bridge played a major role in that, but it was the romanticism of the deal that the fans loved more than anything.
His first spell at Chelsea ended with a missed penalty in the Super Cup final shootout in 2013, but his love for the club seemingly never dwindled, and his return was a chance for him to prove himself at the club he supported as a boy.
For this reason, the fans embraced him with welcoming arms, created a chant for him to sing on the terraces, and backed him even when he wasn't scoring.
Why Lukaku must apologise to the fans
The romanticism of the move, however, has meant that Chelsea fans are even more outraged by his comments than if they came from anybody else. A relationship based on love has quickly turned to hatred, and yet Lukaku has done nothing to rectify it.
Beloved by the fans, Lukaku owes it to those diehard supporters to issue a public apology. He may have admitted his wrongs to his manager, and while that means he's back in contention, he needs to apologise to the fans as well, or he will find himself outcast at the club.
Fans want trust and appreciation from their players, yet Lukaku has seemingly neglected both of these recently. Of course, he may feel sympathy towards the Stamford Bridge faithful, but that won't matter until he apologises for his antics.
Lukaku has the ability to fix his relationship with the club and the fans, but it won't happen overnight, and it won't happen as if by magic - he needs to explain himself to the Chelsea fans and ask for forgiveness, and he needs to do it soon.
Time is of the essence before Chelsea face Tottenham, and if Lukaku plays before he's apologised to the fans, then it could spell trouble. Of course, some will still back him, but the majority will have turned on their record signing.
He's an exceptional striker, and if he scores the winner in the Champions League final then all will be forgotten, but in the present, it's an issue that he needs to accept responsibility for.
In his pre-match press conference before the Tottenham game, Tuchel revealed that: "He [Lukaku] is aware of what happened and he created and feels the responsibility to clean the mess up but there may still be a smell of course. He doesn’t have a choice, he can't expect people to be super happy the next day. But he is still our player, we are happy that he is our player and we will protect him."
So, the Belgian knows he's made a mistake, and is ready to clear the air - it seems a matter of when, not if, a desperately needed apology happens.
The fans at least deserve an explanation, and if they don't get one, then Lukaku may not be welcomed back into the fold by the Chelsea faithful.
