Chelsea striker, Romelu Lukaku has insisted that he didn’t permit his agent, Federico Pastorello, or anyone else to talk about his future at the Premier League club on his behalf. Hence, the Belgian striker insisted that the interview his agent granted recently was not in his name.
Recall that Chelsea paid Inter Milan a whopping 97.5 million to bring Romelu Lukaku to the club on August 12, 2021, to become the face of Chelsea’s attack. Unfortunately, he has not been able to hit the kind of form that was expected from him. Hence, he has not been used as regularly as expected.
Despite that, Romelu Lukaku is currently Chelsea’s highest goalscorer in all competitions in the 2021-2022 season with 15 goals and two assists in 42 games.
Due to how he has been struggling under coach Thomas Tuchel, there has been a series of speculations linking him with a move away from Chelsea. There are also growing reports that he might return to Inter Milan this summer.
To give more substance to the speculations that the 29-year-old Belgian might leave Chelsea this summer, Romelu Lukaku’s agent, Federico Pastorello told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the striker has encountered “problems” at the Premier League club.
“Given the figures of the transfer, no one could have expected such a situation. I’m not the one to discuss technical choices, but it is obvious that there was a problem”, the agent said in the interview which was published on Friday, May 13, 2022, a day before Chelsea’s FA Cup clash with Liverpool.
“The numbers, however, must be weighted”, the agent added. “He is the best scorer of the team this season, even with a lower playing time compared to his teammates.”
Romelu Lukaku’s reaction to his agent’s comments
In recent games, coach Thomas Tuchel has decided to rest Kai Havertz and use Romelu Lukaku more regularly and the Belgian striker has not disappointed.
Recall that Lukaku had scored three goals in his last two appearances which shows that he is currently in form. Hence, he is expected to start in the FA Cup final match between Chelsea and Liverpool scheduled to kick off at 16:45 later today, May 14, 2022, at the Wembley Stadium.
To ensure that he is 100 percent with the team, Lukaku who turned 29-year-old on Friday, May 13 took to his Instagram story on the said date to distance himself from his agent’s comments.
“Never ever will I let someone speak for me,” Lukaku wrote on his Instagram story. “I kept my mouth shut and focused on helping the team end the season in the best way possible.
“So if someone [is] out there trying to say something about me and the club… not in my name.”
This is not the first time a distractive story about Romelu Lukaku came out a day before a big game between Liverpool and Chelsea: Here is Thomas Tuchel’s reaction
There is something about Romelu Lukaku and distractive stories being published a day before Chelsea play a big game against Liverpool. Recall that earlier in the season, Sky Italia decided to publish an interview Lukaku granted the outlet a few days before Chelsea’s Premier League game against Liverpool.
In the interview, Lukaku admitted that he has been struggling at Chelsea because he did not like the style of coach Thoma Tuchel and also wished to return to Inter Milan soonest.
The comments caused a bit of uproar at Stamford Bridge and made some of the club’s fans criticize him. The comments also forced coach Thomas Tuchel to sideline him in the league game against Liverpool which ended in a 2-2 draw on January 2, 2022.
Before Lukaku was reintegrated into the team, he had to tender a public apology and held a closed-door meeting with coach Tuchel.
Unfortunately, the same scenario is playing out a day before Chelsea’s FA Cup final match against Liverpool. While reacting to Lukaku’s agent’s comments ahead of the game, coach Tuchel who claimed that he heard about the comments a few minutes before the pre-match press conference on Friday, said the player has the right to speak with the club’s hierarchy.
The German tactician stressed that the agent’s comments are not a distraction to him and hope that the comments would not distract anyone at the club before the FA Cup final match.
“I think if he plans to talk with the owner maybe it is not his plan to talk with me,” coach Thomas Tuchel said. “It’s fair enough. Let’s see if he gets a meeting! It is his right.
“We will talk to anybody. We will evaluate any situation of any player, including Romelu. We will see what is going to happen and what the plans are.
“I was only made aware of it five or 10 minutes ago actually. It’s what sometimes happens in football. The attention is so high that sometimes it attracts situations that you don’t want to have before big matches. It’s the way it is.
“For me, it is not a distraction, and hopefully for everybody that works on the team and the team itself it is not.”
