Thomas Tuchel confirms crunch Chelsea meeting with Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirms he will have a meeting with Romelu Lukaku on Monday to discuss his controversial interview about Inter regrets and being unhappy at Stamford Bridge. ‘I thought we could handle it.’
The striker was left out of the squad entirely for Sunday’s Premier League big match against Liverpool, which saw Chelsea come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.
It seems that the text messages Lukaku sent to his former teammate Tim Howard were correct, as there will indeed be a clear the air meeting with the manager on Monday.
“There is a meeting on Monday, of course, that’s why we took the decision to delay the decision. We needed some time,” Tuchel told beIN Sports.
Sky Sport Italia recorded the exclusive interview with Lukaku three weeks ago, but released the first clips on Thursday evening, before the entire show was aired on Friday.
“I think I heard of the story on Friday, I thought we could handle it, it’s not the first time that something like this happens in my career.
“I still don’t feel personally attacked, disappointed or whatever. It’s not personal. The thing got too big on Saturday, if you play Liverpool on Sunday, it simply got too big, it was too much noise.
“We needed to protect the squad with full focus, there was no time for second or third thoughts about this. That’s why we do it tomorrow.”
Lukaku expressed regret at the way he left Inter, assuring he will return to play at San Siro while he is still at a strong level, not “at the end” of his career.
However, a return just months after his €115m transfer is utterly improbable, not to mention he has already been replaced in the Inter squad by Edin Dzeko and Joaquin Correa.
If Lukaku was to leave Chelsea, the most likely candidate would be a reunion with ex-Inter boss Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur.