Romelu Lukaku’s explosive interview about his situation at Chelsea makes it clear that the Belgian is ‘not happy’ at the Stanford Bridge club, increasing problems for German manager Thomas Tuchel. 

He spoke to Sky Italia, saying “Physically I am fine. But I am not happy with the situation at Chelsea. Tuchel has chosen to play with another system. I won’t give up. I will be professional. I am not happy with the situation but I am professional and I can’t give up now.” 

Lukaku, who transferred from Internazionale for £97.5m, this summer, has yet to find his scoring streak with the boys in blue. Notably, he did score in the last two matches and had some praise for Tuchel after the 3-1 win over Aston Villa. However, the campaign has been frustrating overall for Lukaku, who netted seven goals in 18 matches, in an inconsistent show of gameplay.

Also Read | City’s Joao Cancelo assaulted in home robbery, might miss Arsenal fixture

In contrast, he was largely responsible for Internazionale winning the Serie A back in May, and expressed an interest in a possible return to the club, saying, “Now it is the right time to share my feelings. I have always said that I have Inter in my head. I know I will return to Inter, I really hope so. I am in love with Italy.” 

These statements undoubtedly come at a bad time for Tuchel who finds the squad stretched thin due to COVID infections and injuries. Recently, the manager spoke of the issue, saying the Premier League’s decision to turn down Chelsea’s request for postponements was not fair. As they prepare to face Liverpool at Chelsea’s home ground this Sunday, January 2, the club could be left without their 22-year-old defender, Reece James. He suffered an injury during the Brighton fixture, and though the results aren’t back yet, management is afraid that he could have a torn hamstring. 

Also Read | Premier League: Phil Foden says Manchester City ‘focused’ on title pursuit

Tuchel addressed the COVID woes too, saying, “[Werner’s] not good, not in training. And that’s because of Covid. We don’t know any more at the moment, and nobody knows quite how the players [who have had Covid] will react. We play trial and error and see what we get. That’s why I’m protecting my team. We can play much better but we need a full squad over weeks and weeks.” 

He had earlier stated that he only made team changes to accommodate for injuries and infections, ruling out strategic alterations in consideration of the current situation.