Thierry Henry has revealed that he warned Romelu Lukaku about signing for Chelsea and says the striker has no interest in returning to Stamford Bridge.
Lukaku joined Chelsea in a £97.5m deal from Inter Milan in 2021 but struggled to make an impact in his first campaign back at Stamford Bridge with 15 goals in 44 games.
The Belgium international made it clear he was unhappy at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel and the West London club allowed him to rejoin Inter on loan last summer.
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Henry, who has worked alongside Lukaku as an assistant coach with Belgium’s national team, says he told the striker that he would ‘find it difficult’ to play under Tuchel.
The Arsenal legend also believes Lukaku does not have a future in Graham Potter’s era at Chelsea.
‘We had a discussion when he [Lukaku] went to Chelsea,’ Henry told CBS Sports. ‘I told him he’s going to find it difficult to play at Chelsea and that happened to be the case because of the way Tuchel liked to play.
‘Pressing, the No.9 and winger have to change, Rom likes to stay where he is, feed him, play him early, he will try to bully you, turn, stay in the box, crosses, he’s a different type of No.9 to what Tuchel wanted.
‘Now, is he going to fit into what Potter is trying to do? I think they’re struggling with that, let alone with him in the squad.
‘But what does he want to do? I don’t think he wants to go back, that’s the main thing, I think he wants to stay at Inter.
‘And that’s where there’s maybe going to be a little clash if they want him back because I think he wants to stay there.
‘The way when he came back. He said it, he said it the other day, ‘everyone knows what I want to do, what I want to do is to stay’.’
Lukaku scored Inter’s winner in their 1-0 win over Porto in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
When asked about his future after the match, the Belgian striker made it clear that he has had little contact with the Blues about returning this summer.
‘I haven’t spoken to nobody,’ Lukaku said. ‘I focus on myself, the present, I don’t want to look at the future right now, it doesn’t make sense.
‘Football is the present, the most important thing, I just want to perform and prepare myself for the next game at the weekend.’
