Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has expressed his displeasure over Romelu Lukaku comment on being unhappy at the club.
Lukaku joined the Blues in a club-record transfer in the summer – gave an interview to Sky in Italy in which he stated that he was “not very happy with the situation” at Stamford Bridge, and complained of Tuchel’s decision to play “a different formation”.
The interview was recorded earlier this month but published on Thursday – just days before Chelsea face Liverpool, live on Sky Sports, in a huge showdown between the two sides bidding to keep pace with Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
When asked about his response to Lukaku’s interview, Tuchel said: “I don’t like it because it brings noise that we don’t need. It’s just not helpful.
“On the other side, we don’t want to make more out of it than it actually is. You know very well how it is – it’s very easy to take lines out of context. It’s very easy to shorten lines and make headlines, then later realise that it’s not so bad and maybe not what he meant.
“But let’s be honest that we don’t like it.”
Tuchel further stated that Lukaku did not speak to him about his feelings before the interview went live, and that he was taken aback by the striker’s apparent unhappiness.
“I don’t feel him unhappy,” said Tuchel. “I feel him the exact opposite, that’s why it’s a surprise.
“But I’m the wrong person to ask.”
In his interview, Lukaku also talked up a return to Inter Milan, where he spent two years and won Serie A before returning to Chelsea for £97.5m.
The 28-year-old apologised to Inter’s fans for the way he left the club and revealed his desire to rejoin the Italian champions while he is still playing at a “good enough level”.
But Tuchel played down any suggestion that Lukaku may want a quick return to San Siro, saying: “This is what you read into it. I did not read it completely.
“It’s very easy to take lines out of context and make headlines to get the best out of these interviews for several days.
“If it’s an important player, I totally understand the process and that’s why it’s a lot of extra noise.
“We are not here to just read the headlines and maybe we can take the time to try to understand what’s going on.
“It does not reflect the daily work, attitude and behaviour which Romelu shows here.”
Source: Skysports
