Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit believes "it's now time" for Romelu Lukaku to leave the Blues once again this summer which would open the door for a potential Erling Haaland transfer swoop amid claims of fresh talks with the striker.
There was once a time whereby manager Thomas Tuchel joked and fantasised over a potential Romelu Lukaku and Haaland link up. The current £97.5million club-record signing had a blistering start to his Blues homecoming but since that infamous interview in which the Belgian had admitted his mistake in leaving Inter Milan, Chelsea's current No.9 has not looked at home since.
Lukaku's goalscoring record has been patchy this season, with Tuchel now preferring Kai Havertz as the lone striker. Despite rumours over the future of both Lukaku and Timo Werner, Tuchel is not focusing on speculation.
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“We don’t reflect on it," he said in his pre-match press conference before Brentford. "The situation at the moment is that we cannot talk to players, cannot sell, and cannot buy. At this moment, we don’t need to think about it.
"These are the players we have and Romelu still plays a big part in our plans. Not the part maybe he wants to play and I totally understand that, but he used his time to disconnect a little bit, had one week of a holiday, and then he was back with us. I feel him very motivated, very strong in training, very much involved when we do the games. He is a winner and he will stay a winner and stay important with us. He had a good match against Middlesbrough which was a huge boost for all of us and for him personally. And at the moment, there is no space for a bad mood and no space for disappointment."
With it being expected that the man Roberto Martinez has told to leave Chelsea this summer will not feature from the start against Real Madrid, coupled with new rumours about the future of Haaland, one of the new owners' first priority would be to sort out the futures of the disgruntled Lukaku and Werner ahead of the summer.
If both were to leave to try and reinvigorate their careers, previous target Haaland could be a viable option. And if Petit's words were to be listened to, then the domino effect could be in full swing here regarding the Belgian and Norwegian talismanic figures.
"I don’t know what will happen at Chelsea with the owners and if they’ll be able to bring in new players, but what I do know is that if Lukaku’s situation is still like this, if I’m Lukaku, of course I’m leaving at the end of the season," the former Premier League midfielder told gentingcasino.com.
"I’m not going to stay. If you’ve spoken about your love for your former club, Inter Milan, well, go back to Italy then. It’s as simple as that. Do Inter have the money to buy Lukaku? Or maybe it’s going to be a spell on loan.
"If Tuchel stays at the club, you could say Lukaku could fight for his place and prove the manager wrong. He’s 29 years old, the World Cup is coming up, it’s now time to make a decision."
With the news that the Haaland's future reportedly needs to be sorted by the end of this month, this may not bode well for the Blues, whose new stewards are expected to be instilled by that deadline meaning they have little time to move and make big strides in this specific transfer race. The only hope they have is that Dortmund's interest in Werner could potentially prompt a player plus cash move between the two sides.
