Lukaku failed to live up to Chelsea’s expectations

DBasia.news – Romelu Lukaku’s future at Chelsea appears to be over. Blues manager Thomas Tuchel admits the forward failed to live up to his expectations.

As is known, Chelsea repatriated Lukaku from Inter Milan last summer. The London club was willing to spend up to €115 million to redeem the Belgian player.

Tuchel does need a reliable center forward. That was after Timo Werner’s declining performance after being brought in from RB Leipzig.

At first, Lukaku seemed able to answer Tuchel’s expectations. He immediately scored a goal against Arsenal in the debut match.

But over time, Lukaku was unable to maintain his performance. This was exacerbated by his open criticism of Tuchel’s tactics.

Since then, Lukaku has started to lose his place in the Chelsea first squad. Moreover, he later suffered an injury.

Lukaku had shown signs of revival when competing in the Club World Cup. He was always able to score goals in the semifinals and finals to bring Chelsea out as champions.

But Lukaku failed to maintain that performance. He returned to warm the bench more when Tuchel chose to rely on Kai Havertz as a false nine.

“It’s definitely disappointing for him (Lukaku) and not what we expected. But it’s not over yet and we’re not going to give up,” said Tuchel.

“We will push him as far as we can. As long as he stays involved in the mentality needed to take the team forward, he can still be an important player.”

Lukaku still has a chance to prove his quality at Chelsea. However, his playing opportunities can become increasingly minimal as Timo Werner begins to rise.

This condition makes it challenging to see Lukaku play more until the end of the season. It is possible that the 28-year-old player will be on the selling list.