Romelu Lukaku has explained he’s going to have a problem in his thigh assessed, which puts his appearance for Chelsea in doubt when they host Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Speaking to the media (as reported by HLN) after Belgium’s World Cup qualifying win over the Czech Republic last night, Lukaku shared his fitness situation.
It was a wonderful evening all round for the striker, despite his injury concerns.
He marked a century of international appearances with a customary goal and an assist for good measure.
The only blot on an otherwise notable night was the yellow card Lukaku received, meaning he will miss the game against Belarus on Wednesday.
At least that will give the 28-year-old time to evaluate his thigh issue ahead of Chelsea’s next domestic clash.
“I’m going to have a scan of my thigh – I’ve been having a problem for a while – and then I’ll return to Chelsea,” said the centre-forward.
How long Lukaku has been nursing this knock, or the extent of the damage, remains unclear.
But it will certainly have Thomas Tuchel sweating over his leading striker’s availability for the weekend.
Rom would be really missed
Chelsea are a different proposition with the Belgian leading their attack.
If he’s absent, the Blues will have no option but to turn to the players who struggled to score constantly last season.
Timo Werner has been on the mark twice for Germany during the international break, yet hasn’t netted for Chelsea since April.
Kai Havertz missed his country’s last fixture after contracting a flu virus, while Christian Pulisic has only just returned from covid isolation.
Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech, meanwhile, aren’t renowned for their penalty box prowess.
From a Chelsea standpoint, they will be praying Lukaku’s scan brings positive rather than negative news.
Otherwise, Tuchel better start plotting a new plan to deploy versus Villa.
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