January 02, (THEWILL) – Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku will not be in the Blues’ squad to face Liverpool in Sunday’s EPL clash at Stamford Bridge.
The 28-year-old striker has scored in his last two Premier League outings for Chelsea, but was embroiled in controversy this week after an interview in which he expressed dissatisfaction with his job at Stamford Bridge was televised.
Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea’s head coach, showed his annoyance with the unapproved interview, saying during his most recent news conference that he will hold “behind closed doors talks” with Lukaku.
Lukaku, who joined Chelsea from Inter Milan for €115 million (£96.4 million) this summer, has just recently returned to training after recovering from an ankle injury and a case of COVID-19.
He scored in recent games against Aston Villa and Brighton, but enraged the club by saying in an interview broadcast on Thursday that he would like to return to Inter Milan in the near future and was “not happy with the situation” at Chelsea.
As THEWILL reported, Tuchel viewed the details of the interview as unwelcoming in his reaction during a press conference after the interview had aired, saying: “I don’t like it. But I don’t want to make more out of it than it actually is. It is very easy to take lines out of context.”
Lukaku’s absence for such a crucial match will undoubtedly be felt and is bold of Tuchel. Chelsea is 11 points behind Manchester City and will need to beat Liverpool at home on Sunday to have a genuine chance of winning the league.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
