Thomas Tuchel takes responsibility for Romelu Lukaku's Chelsea struggles

Forum 1 year ago

Thomas Tuchel takes responsibility for Romelu Lukaku's Chelsea struggles

Thomas Tuchel has revealed he feels responsible for Romelu Lukaku's nightmare return to Chelsea.

Signed for £97.5m last summer, Lukaku looked an awkward fit in Tuchel's team and returned to Inter on loan this year after managing just eight Premier League goals in 25 games.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Tuchel acknowledged that everybody involved should take some blame but revealed that he actually wanted a fresh start with Lukaku this season, only for the striker to ask for a move away.

"I think we should all be honest that it was disappointing," he said of Lukaku's return to Chelsea.

"And for my performance...I'm far away from pointing the finger at Romelu. He is disappointed, I was disappointed.

"Of course, it is on me to find a structure and to build an environment, to make the player confident and to bring the very best out of him. This is why I am here, I'm serving the players, not the other way around.

"I did not succeed, which does not make me happy. I was ready to give it another try, Romelu decided differently and expressed his wish to go back. The owners decided to agree to his wish, so we need to find new solutions."

Chelsea have not yet replaced Lukaku this summer but have bolstered in attack with the signing of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City for £47.5m.

"He brings intensity, repetitive intensity, a very humble approach to his game," Tuchel said of his new signing. "He finds speed, he finds work rate. We saw this against Everton, it was a very close game, not the most physical game, but he found his work rate, his acceleration, his deceleration, his sprints, his little dribbles.

"He's a huge player for us, he's a huge player for England. I'm happy."