“Not a secret”: Chelsea boss Tuchel has his say on Romelu Lukaku as deal edges closer

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel speaks out on the imminent addition of Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel gave his opinion on Romelu Lukaku rejoining Chelsea (h/t Metro). The Belgian international is close to finalizing a move to Chelsea from Inter Milan in a record-breaking £97.5million deal.

It was a near-perfect season for Chelsea last time around. After all, they lifted the Champions League for the second time in the club’s history despite sacking Frank Lampard midway through the season. However, there were still persistent issues for Chelsea to encounter through most of the campaign.

The lack of a clinical goal scorer could have hurt them if it wasn’t for their sturdy defence. Timo Werner failed to reproduce the form he had at RB Leipzig and was missing chances left and right. Tammy Abraham was frozen out by Tuchel while Giroud was not a regular in the side. It went to the point where Kai Havertz had to play as a false nine.

Chelsea needed a new striker and it was clear they were going to go for one. Now, as Romelu Lukaku closes in on a return to Chelsea after seven years, Thomas Tuchel gave his initial opinion about him.

“It’s still not the moment to talk about names because we have nobody signed yet and we will show all the respect to other clubs. Romelu is one of the guys like Haaland at Dortmund, Robert Lewandowski at Bayern, Harry Kane at Tottenham, who is a real number nine who loves to score and who has a presence in the box. That is not a secret.

‘The sentence [Tuchel describing Lukaku as a ‘fantastic player’] is easy to repeat for any coach in the world. But [his] is the kind of profile we’re looking for and if it is possible to convince agents and clubs we will do our best.”

More Chelsea News

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Lukaku might not have performed well during his first stint at Chelsea. But he is a whole different striker now who piles on goals for fun. He will also have it in the back of his mind about the previous stint and would want to correct the same. It should not be long before Tuchel gets to work with the striker.