Romelu Lukaku would have reportedly been more likely to stay at Chelsea this season if he had known that Thomas Tuchel would be leaving Stamford Bridge as manager.
Blues loanee Lukaku, 29, exited the club in the summer transfer window to rejoin Inter Milan on a season-long loan. The centre-forward’s started back at the San Siro with one goal and one assist in his opening three Milan appearances.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s rocky start to the campaign has now culminated in Tuchel losing his job in September.
However, the London club has moved very swiftly to officially name Graham Potter as his replacement, poaching him from league rivals Brighton.
Lukaku more likely to stay without Tuchel
According to The Athletic, sources close to Lukaku claim the striker would’ve been more open to staying at Chelsea for another season if Tuchel’s exit was on the cards.
A poor relationship between the pair has been mentioned several times in the media, including a joke from Tuchel that wound up Lukaku last season when playing Tottenham.
Lukaku did score 15 goals in 44 games across all competitions last season for Chelsea, but the overriding feeling is that he was nowhere near the £97.5million player they thought they had signed.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t quite fit the Tuchel system and even lost his starting position towards the back end of the season.
What happens next summer?
Lukaku’s still on the Chelsea books and will return next summer, so it’ll be interesting to see what Potter makes of his situation.
Does his turbulent exit leave a sour taste with some of the current players in the Blues dressing room? Would he actually want to try reignite his career in West London under new management?
These are dilemmas for much further down road that Potter will have to deal with.
For now, Chelsea’s new coach can select from forwards such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Armando Broja and Kai Havertz.
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