Thomas Tuchel has described Romelu Lukaku as a ‘real number nine who loves to score’ as the player closes in on a club-record £97.5m transfer move to Chelsea from Inter.
The Blues have been in the market for a new striker to add a more clinical edge to their attack and after being frustrated in their attempts to land Dortmund’s Erling Haaland switched focus to Inter’s Lukaku.
A deal could be announced soon, with the 28-year-old centre forward having undergone a medical in Milan before jetting out of Italy.
While Tuchel did not confirm a deal for Lukaku was close, he was confident enough to discuss his many strengths and feels he can provide the focal point and goals his team have lacked.
Asked about Lukaku’s imminent arrival, Tuchel told Sky Sports: ‘We lost Olivier Giroud who played a crucial role in the club.
‘He was the kind of profile who likes to play with his back to goal, who likes to hold up balls, who creates space for Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic; who is ready to fight physically with defenders.
‘This is the kind of profile that we don’t have in our squad right now and that we are looking for. ‘It’s still not the moment to talk about names because we have nobody signed yet and we will show all the respect to other clubs.
‘Romelu is one of the guys like Haaland at Dortmund, Robert Lewandowski at Bayern, Harry Kane at Tottenham, who is a real number nine who loves to score and who has a presence in the box. That is not a secret.
‘The sentence [Tuchel describing Lukaku as a ‘fantastic player’] is easy to repeat for any coach in the world.
‘But [his] is the kind of profile we’re looking for and if it is possible to convince agents and clubs we will do our best.’
Stressing the need for Chelsea to improve after Sancho and Grealish both moved to Manchester United and City respectively, he said: ‘They are big signings and we are also trying to improve the squad; at the same time we give all our energy to the guys that we have – it’s our goal to improve the group we have.’
