'There's your daddy!': Tuchel's Conte mocking pushed Lukaku to Chelsea exit
Suraj Radia
- 29 Jun 2022 18:35 BST
- 3 min read
Romelu Lukaku’s strained relationship with Thomas Tuchel was a key factor towards his Chelsea departure, partially due to a joke by the German where he referred to Antonio Conte as the striker’s ‘daddy’.
The Belgian joined Chelsea from Inter last summer for a club-record fee but is set to return to his former side on loan after just one season where he failed to match the success he achieved under Conte.
Lukaku’s career at Chelsea rapidly deteriorated following an interview where the 29-year-old criticised Tuchel’s tactics and the joke was reportedly an example of how the pair didn’t see eye-to-eye.
Chelsea journalist Nizaar Kinsella told The Italian Football Podcast: “There was another incident behind the scenes where Lukaku was chatting to Tuchel while watching a Tottenham game and Tuchel said ‘there’s your daddy’ about Conte.”
“It was just a joke but apparently it didn’t go down well with Lukaku.”
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Lukaku was desperate to return to Inter this summer after the breakdown in his relationship with Tuchel and the Chelsea boss was more than willing to oblige, despite his side still needing a striker.
The 29-year-old was touted as the solution to Chelsea’s goalscoring woes when he joined for £99.5 million but he only scored eight times in the league and eventually fell out of favour under Tuchel.
Lukaku’s explosive interview in November all but burnt his bridges with Chelsea despite the expensive outlay and the club were keen on cutting their losses to get him out of the club.
Lukaku and Tuchel were watching Spurs play and Tuchel said to Lukaku: ‘there’s your daddy’ about Antonio Conte 🤣🤣🤣
Amazing story and breakdown on Lukaku’s Chelsea nightmare from the best in the Chelsea business @NizaarKinsella
🎧👇🏽https://t.co/cQl7l6HdoT https://t.co/wECZCswCcC— Carlo Garganese (@carlogarganese) June 29, 2022
The conflict peaked in February when Lukaku registered just nine touches against Crystal Palace despite playing the entire game – the lowest amount by any player recorded in Premier League history.
Tuchel allegedly determined the player had no future at the club following that game and Kai Havertz was often preferred to lead the line as a false nine rather than Lukaku.
Lukaku’s attitude off-the-pitch and body language on it was enough for Chelsea to agree a loan move with Inter despite them being short on strikers at the club.
The Italian side will pay €8m plus add-ons and will cover Lukaku's salary during the loan, although there is no option to make the move permanent.
