Chelsea owner backs Tuchel to discipline Lukaku over media outburst

January 4, 2022

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has reportedly backed Thomas Tuchel ’s stance to discipline star striker Romelu Lukaku.

Abramovich footed the bill when Chelsea splashed out a club-record £97.5million to sign Lukaku from Inter Milan in the summer.

But the Russian was in favour of Tuchel’s decision to leave the 28-year-old out of the squad to play Liverpool in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge after his eyebrow-raising interview last week.

Lukaku gave an unauthorised interview to Sky Sports Italia in which he admitted he was “not happy” with his current situation with the Blues.

According to The Telegraph, Lukaku is now set to be reintegrated into the squad for Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Tottenham on Wednesday night.

But only after the Belgian was urged to issue a public apology in order to try and draw a line under the saga, which has engulfed the club over the past six days.

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia was reportedly involved in talks behind the scenes with Lukaku, showing the seriousness of the situation.

Some Chelsea players are opposed to the treatment of Lukaku, who is believed to have been surprised by the strength of the reaction to his comments.

Chelsea have refused to comment on whether Lukaku will be fined for giving the interview, which was intended to placate Inter Milan fans, and then keeping it a secret for three weeks.

He was back in training at Chelsea’s Cobham training centre on Monday after holding a meeting with Tuchel.

The pair are believed to have cleared the air ahead of two cup ties against Tottenham and an FA Cup match against Chesterfield.

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“The thing got too big, the thing got too noisy so close to the match,” Tuchel told Sky Sports ahead of the Liverpool game. “So I decided to protect the preparation of the match, that’s why he’s out.”

Asked if he had spoken to Lukaku, he said: “Of course. We have spoken, we’ve spoken twice and spoken to the main players, of course

“After that we have to realise it’s too close to the match, it’s too big. We delayed the decision of what to do, and whilst we are delaying it we need to protect the preparation of the match.

“We have a big match of football to play and we need full focus, which anyway is hard to get even with this decision.

“But it is, in my opinion, easier if he is not in the squad and that’s why we did it.”

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