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Romelu Lukaku has issued a public apology for his controversial interview after Thomas Tuchel decided to recall the striker for Chelsea’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham on Wednesday.
Lukaku held talks with Tuchel on Monday and is keen to move on from the saga. The £97.5m forward, who was dropped for Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday, acknowledged the hurt he caused supporters by airing his unhappiness with life at Stamford Bridge in an unauthorised interview with Sky Italia.
“I totally understand,” Lukaku told Chelsea TV. “I think I should have been clearer in my message. The interview was about saying goodbye to the Inter fans, it was not about trying to disrespect the fans, the football club, the owner, my teammates and the manager. They did a lot of effort to bring me back here. I wanted to come back. I was on a mission since I left. I totally understand the frustrations of the fans. Now it’s on me to show my commitment at 100 per cent.
“They don’t need to question it. I always said I wanted to come here to be successful. Chelsea is a club that is equal to success. All players come here win and I have a special passion for this club. I want to win here for many years. To the fans I’m sorry for the upset I’ve caused. You guys know the connection I have with this club since my teenage years. Also to the manager I apologise, and to my teammates and the board. I want to move on forward from this.”
Lukaku apologised on Monday to Tuchel, who was left satisfied that the player was remorseful. Chelsea’s manager said that the Belgian was determined “to clean the mess up”.
“First of all we were even in the background happy that we took the time that it needed to look calmly on it and talk calmly,” Tuchel said. “He apologised and is back in the squad for [TUESDAY’S]training.
“For me the most important thing was to understand and clearly understand and believe that it was not intentional. He did not do this intentionally to create noise in front of such a big game. And it’s the very first time even he has behaved like this.”
Although Tuchel is pleased to have Lukaku back in contention, he said the 28-year-old must take responsibility for his comments. Lukaku created a storm after questioning Tuchel’s system and saying that he wants to return to Inter one day. The interview, aired last Thursday but conducted three weeks previously, did not go down well with anyone at Chelsea.
“It’s not that big as maybe people want it to be, but it’s also not small,” Tuchel said. “But it is small enough to stay calm, accept an apology and to move on forward. He’s very aware of what happened and what he created and he feels the responsibility to clean the mess up.
“Maybe we will have a bit of smell still from it, of course. He can handle it, but he also has no other choice. He cannot expect everybody to be super happy the very next day. But he’s still our player and we have good, good reasons and a lot of reasons to make him play for us, and to convince him and to fight hard that he’s our player. We’re happy he’s our player, we will protect him.”
Trevoh Chalobah is out with a hamstring problem and Andreas Christensen is doubtful with a back injury but Timo Werner could be on the bench after recovering from Covid-19. Reece James and Ben Chilwell are long-term absentees.
Tuchel said Thiago Silva is showing no signs of slowing down after the 37-year-old defender signed a one-year contract extension. “Benjamin Button,” he said. “Thiago Button of football. I know how much work is behind that. It is a miracle in a way because he came to this league and this schedule at the very end of his career, which was very brave.
“We’re happy because a new contract makes him calm. Thiago needs to be calm because he’s a very sensitive and emotional person, which makes him also so precious for our team, for our dressing room. He can feel emotions, a different set of emotions to others. He can help so much in this.”