Tuchel clarifies what really happened with Lukaku

Reports of the difficult relationship between Chelsea manager Thomas Tüchel and former Blues striker Romelu Lukaku continue to emerge and maybe this time, definitely. It’s well known that Lukaku asked to leave Stamford Bridge because he did not feel comfortable at the club. Chelsea looked for an outlet for the Belgian and eventually found him one - on loan at Inter Milan.

No issues with Lukaku

Tüchel sat down to chat to The Guardian’s Ed Aarons at Chelsea’s summer camp in LA. From the interview, we can get a better idea about what actually happened between the German coach and the player. Tüchel is adamant that he never asked for the player to be sold: “There has never been a meeting where I said like: ‘I want this guy out.’ Never”, he explained, going on to add, “I was always clear - if he stays we will do everything to put him in a better place, to put him in better shape, to improve my style of coaching, our style of playing, to make him a better fit. It was always a possibility he stayed but Romelu made it very clear he wants to leave and the owners took the decision to make the decision straight away.”

From that we can deduce that Tüchel didn’t have any problems with the player - contrary to the rumours of misunderstandings between the two. But the German coach says as far as he is concerned, there was never any personal issues.

Rebuilding project

What is clear is that, after Lukaku’s departure, Tüchel have been hard at work reinforcing the squad. He is building a competitive team - one which can aspire to win everything. Hopefully with another new recruit - Joules Koundé, who is high on the list of priorities after Nathan Aké turned down the chance to return.