‘Zero doubts’ about Lukaku’s commitment to Chelsea

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Thomas Tuchel says Romelu Lukaku will return to the Chelsea squad after he apologised for an interview in which he said he had been unhappy at the club.

Lukaku was dropped from the matchday squad for Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool following an interview with Sky Italy recorded earlier in December in which Lukaku claimed to be “not happy” with his situation at Chelsea.

The pair met on Monday to discuss what was said, and asked about the outcome of the meeting ahead of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Tottenham, Blues boss Tuchel said: “We are happy that we took the time that it needed to look calmly on it and to talk calmly on it.



“This is what we did. He apologised and is back in the squad for today’s training.

“For me, the most important thing was to understand and to believe that it was not intentional. He did not do this intentionally to create this kind of noise before a big game.

“It’s not small but it’s small enough to stay calm, accept an apology and to move on forward.

“It was in a very, very bad moment in front of a big game so we protected the game and now we’ve had enough time to clear the air and move on.”

Timo Werner could return to the bench against Spurs but Andreas Christensen remains a doubt, while Trevoh Chalobah has been ruled out completely.

And responding to a question asking what kind of reception he expects Lukaku to get when he next plays for the Blues, Tuchel added: “He is very aware of what happened and what he created and he feels the responsibility to clean the mess up.

“He can handle it but he also has no other choice. He cannot expect everybody to be super happy the very next day.

“We are happy that he’s our player and we will protect him. In the end it’s also very important that the stadium supports the team and even if somebody has a different opinion on it or strongly disagrees, it is about the team.

“There are zero doubts in his commitment to the team and to the club.”