Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has been left stunned by Romelu Lukaku this season.
According to The Athletic, it’s been a ‘big surprise’ to Blues manager Tuchel to see Lukaku struggle to adapt to his tactics.
The report explains the 28-year-old striker’s incompatibility with the formation and system has completely amazed his coach.
It is understood last summer the club’s recruitment were convinced the Belgium international was the top-class number nine needed at Stamford Bridge to help them kick on, but the hype and excitement around him has faded during the course of the season.
It’s now a position where Chelsea fans are questioning the future of Lukaku, who has 12 goals in 40 games across all competitions this campaign. He’s been linked with clubs such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich ahead of the summer.
Striker position
It’s a fair assessment that Lukaku’s just not fit the Blues system.
There’s a real disappointment that a player who cost £97.5million can’t adapt his own game to start firing for Tuchel.
In fairness, it’s not even worked when Tuchel’s tried different roles for Lukaku, whether that be as a sole target man or as a forward pairing.
A lot of the fanbase at Stamford Bridge are desperate for the days to return of having a goal machine like Didier Drogba or Diego Costa.
Unfortunately, Lukaku’s not been able to replicate his best form. After all, he’s someone with 68 goals in 101 Belgium caps. He’s netted 263 senior club career goals, too.
Chelsea may need to get used to having a new modern attacker with someone more flexible like Kai Havertz.
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