Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has explained that Romelu Lukaku has been left out of his starting lineup in recent weeks due to a lack of fitness.
The Belgian has not started a Premier League game since the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on February 19 and was left out of the starting XI for the FA Cup semi-final against the Eagles after recovering from a heel problem. Tuchel, who claimed he was ready to give Lukaku a chance to impress him at Wembley, clearly had doubts over his fitness.
Instead, the Belgian was forced to sit in the dugout and watch Kai Havertz and Timo Werner start up front. And Tuchel, who signed Lukaku from Inter Milan for £97.5million last summer, was blunt in his assessment of the 28-year-old’s situation when asked about his absence from his starting XI.
"He's not fit enough to play 90 minutes, not fit enough for the intensity of our game, it's as easy as that,” Tuchel told ITV Sport. “He had an injury, he missed minutes, so his match fitness isn't there, otherwise there's a big chance he'd be playing today.”
Lukaku has struggled in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, scoring 12 goals in all competitions but only five of those have come in the Premier League. The striker is at risk of finishing the season behind holding midfielder Jorginho, who has scored all six of his goals from the penalty spot.
The towering striker had been in decent form before an ankle problem ruled out of action for six weeks. He then rocked the club with an ill-timed interview claiming he was unhappy with Tuchel’s tactics and wanted to return to Inter, and things have not been the same between the pair since.
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