Romelu Lukaku’s Premier League return has not gone according to plan. After lighting it up in Serie A with Inter Milan, Lukaku was supposed to be Chelsea’s long-awaited striker. That has not happened.
Lukaku’s form would suggest a player Thomas Tuchel could surely use, especially considering Chelsea’s constant problems to find a week-in-week-out goal scorer. The Belgium striker has 2 goals in 4 games in the Champions League but was an unused substitute against Lille on Tuesday night. In the Premier League he has only 5 goals in 17 games and went 90 minutes against Crystal Palace over the weekend but was left off the squad against Arsenal a game before.
Lukaku had spoken out about his up and down situation at Chelsea, something that did not sit well with Thomas Tuchel, now Thierry Henry in speaking as an analyst with CBS Sports gave his thoughts on the strange matter between Lukaku, Tuchel, and Chelsea.
Thierry Henry on Romelu Lukaku’s Chelsea situation
Romelu Lukaku (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
“Right from the start I raised a question to myself, would he fit into this team? For Rom to adapt to the way Chelsea play, it takes time, it’s not an easy one. Is it normal that he only has seven touches [against Crystal Palace]? No, that’s also not normal, regardless, if the coach likes you or not. That shouldn’t happen.” Henry continued, “The solution is for him to find a solution to make sure he can adapt to the way they play. They like to press, to be active and to change the front three. He likes to stay in the middle, so it makes it very difficult for him to adapt to the situation. But again, why did you go and get him?”
Henry makes a valid point, as Chelsea has bought players into the squad before at record prices without the coach’s full support. Even Christian Pulisic was bought by Chelsea with then manager Maurizio Sarri claiming he knew “nothing” of the transfer being done after being consulted by the club months before. Romelu Lukaku cost Chelsea a record-breaking transfer fee and questions about his desire to stay at the club amid this situation have been raised.
