The manager of Chelsea football club, Thomas Tuchel said his new striker, Romelu Lukaku could be the next captain of the club after the exit of Cesar Azpilicueta.
Azpilicueta has just a season left on his contract with Chelsea. His contract will expire on June 30, 2022. At the time of publishing this report, talk about a possible contract extension is yet to start.
The 32-year-old Spanish defender has been at Chelsea football club since August 24, 2012. He joined the Premier League club from Olympique Marseille for a transfer fee worth €8.80 million.
Since he joined the club, he has made 435 appearances in which he scored 56 goals and provided 14 assists.
Ahead of the Chelsea Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur scheduled to kick off at 16:30 today, September 19, Thomas Tuchel was asked whether Romelu Lukaku could be Azpilicueta’s successor. The German tactician revealed that Lukaku was already showcasing traits of the role without an armband.
While acknowledging that the club was not thinking of replacing Azpilicueta as the club’s captain, Tuchel noted that Romelu Lukaku has all it takes to be the captain of the club.
Lukaku who had played for Chelsea between 2011 and 2014 before he left for Everton, returned to Chelsea in August 2021. Since then, he has been a very influential figure in the team.
“He (Romelu Lukaku) is a very democratic communicator – he treats everybody with the same respect, the same attitude.
“He is a highest-level competitor – he loves training, he has a smile on his face, he wants to win every single competition. This is good. He leads by example.”
On Romelu Lukaku becoming the successor of Azpilicueta, Thomas Tuchel said: “Yes, I think he could be. He has a lot of things you need to be a captain.
“But we have fantastic captains so no need to think about this now. He behaves like one and this is more important than to have the captain’s band.”
Thomas Tuchel believes Antonio Rudiger won’t leave Chelsea
The manager of the Chelsea football club, Thomas Tuchel believes that the club’s defender Antonio Rudiger would stay at the Premier League club despite tension over his future.
The 28-year-old German defender has just a season left on his contract with Chelsea and talks over his contract extension have not yielded much.
Amid the negotiations, Paris Saint Germain and Real Madrid have reportedly shown interest in the center-defender.
“I learn stuff off of him,” said Tuchel about Antonio Rudiger’s personality at Chelsea. “How he feels the game, where he wants to score, how he wants to assist, how he feels confident to hold the opponents off. So you adapt to your player.
“I’m very happy to see him so humble and so involved in the communication with everybody. We had a strong bond in the team last season – which was key to success – and we rely on the bond and atmosphere again.
“Romelu is a big part of that and a fantastic guy.”
