Romelu Lukaku will meet with Chelsea to discuss his situation on Monday after being left out of their team to face Liverpool following his controversial interview.
The Belgian star spoke to Sky Italia three weeks ago, though the interview was just released on Thursday, and revealed he ‘was not very happy’ at Chelsea and accused Thomas Tuchel of ‘playing a different formation’ that does not get the best out of him.
Lukaku also made it clear he was hoping to return to former club Inter while he is still in the prime of his career, with his comments causing huge confusion and anger at Chelsea.
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Tuchel reacted by axing him from the matchday squad for Sunday’s Premier League game with title rivals Liverpool and says he needed to speak to the player to understand what prompted his comments.
Now his former Everton teammate Tim Howard, who works as a pundit for NBC Sports, has revealed that Lukaku is keeping quiet after his explosive interview and has a meeting with Chelsea scheduled for Monday.
NBC Sports presenter Rebecca Lowe passed on the ex-USA goalkeeper’s information, saying on Sunday: ‘Tim Howard has been texting with Romelu Lukaku.
‘Lukaku says he can’t talk too much about it, it’s very hot, but there’s another meeting – Lukaku told Tim – on Monday. He says he has another meeting on Monday and he can talk more after that.’
Although Lukaku never had the intention of leaving Chelsea when he gave his interview, ESPN claim that he could have a change of heart if Tuchel continues to leave him out of the team and if he is hit with a big fine.
Tuchel said he was confused by Lukaku’s interview, feeling that his words were in contrast to his behaviour, while he was also surprised by his remarks about playing with a different formation.
Discussing the situation regarding Lukaku, Tuchel told Sky Sports: ‘I will not try to tell you that we are happy about it. Does a dressing room always need to be a sensitive dressing room? Does it always need to be full of harmony? No. It’s sometimes even good if it’s not always in full harmony.
‘But to speak out on these things, as a big player and as a big signing and as a key player for us – who behaves on a daily basis like he is absolutely happy – that is a concern of course, and it is very, very surprising.
‘We have to speak to him, he has to speak to us, so we can understand it. Because it is very hard to understand because how he behaves, how he plays, how he scores, even now right after injury, how he behaves on a daily basis, how we have talks with myself… it’s very surprising.’
Asked about the formation comment, Tuchel said: ‘I don’t know actually! We decided actually not to play a different formation so that’s why it’s a kind of surprise on many levels!’
