Lukaku ‘will stay our player’, says Tuchel after dropping star man
Thomas Tuchel has insisted Romelu Lukaku “will stay our player” despite showdown talks slated over the Chelsea striker’s controversial comments on his Stamford Bridge situation.
BluesbossTuchelhailedan “immense”comebackasMateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic struck to claim a 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge – and all without club-record signing Lukaku.
The £98million man was stood down for Sunday’s clash after an interview aired on Thursday,whichwasrecorded three weeks ago, in which Lukaku revealed unhappiness at his Chelsea situation.
Lukaku has scored two goals in two games since that interview took place and also insisted he had smoothed things over with boss Tuchel, but the German coach and the Chelsea hierarchy took a dim viewofthecommentsandtheir timing.
Tucheladmittedhewilltalk toLukakuonMondaytothrash out a way forward but insisted the 28-year-old’s future is not up for debate.
“He’sourplayer,hewillstay our player,” said Tuchel.
“We will always protect our players and when we make decisions like this, first we need to evaluate the situation, not listen to the media but understand what he said and why he said it.
“If the decision is he’s good to go for Wednesday for the Tottenham match, this is the
decision. But I cannot tell you right now because we need to talk and understand the situation better.
“There’s no doubt he will stay our player, and we have to protect our players.”
LukakutoldSkySportItaly: “I’m not happy with the situation and that’s only natural.”
TheformerInterMilanstar had however told ESPN Brazil on Boxing Day that he and
Tuchel had thrashed out some differences,havingaimedfora “multidimensional” role with the Blues.
Sadio Mane broke a 10-game scoring duck and Mo Salah delivered his 16th league goal of the campaign as Liverpool raced into early control. But Chelsea battled back and ground out an impressive point, especially given the Lukaku situation and a growing
injury glut.
“It’s not the first time that an interview out there causes some noise,” said Tuchel.
“Butwecanhandleit,Idon’t feelpersonallyattacked,Idon’t feel personally angry. But the noise was too big, on Friday thereweretwostatementsand too much noise.
“We lost totally the focus for the match and we took the decision to delay the process,
to protect also Romelu from a rash decision. We need to speak, we need to read the full interview and to stay calm and not lose our heads.”
Explaining he had consulted senior Chelsea players before omitting Lukaku, Tuchel continued: “I take decisions for the team. I have players to listen to them and hear their opinion and what they think.
“ImakemydecisionsonceI hearthemout.It’stheirclub,it’s theirteam,andit’snotpersonal for me to decide only because of my beliefs.
“This was a big match againstabigopponent;abigresponse, and given the circumstances, where we came from and how we played was exceptional. Coming back from 2-0 down was immense, and there are no worries except for the result.Itwasabrilliantmatch.”