Thomas Tuchel has dropped Romelu Lukaku to the bench for Tuesday night’s Champions League meeting with Lille.
While these are still early days in his Chelsea career, the fact Tuchel has opted to leave the club’s record signing out of a knockout game in Europe’s elite competition says a lot about how the major money move has gone so far.
The Belgian endured yet another difficult outing for the club during Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace, a game in which he mustered nine touches.
Lukaku has struggled to find a natural place in Tuchel’s attack despite showing some early promise and his lack of convincing form in a League context has been one of the major subplots as Chelsea lost ground in the title race.
Towards of 2021, the 28-year-old was fined for an interview with Italian media in which spoke of his frustration with how he’s been deployed since his summer move, as well as his desire to return to Inter Milan at some stage.
In total, Lukaku has scored 10 goals in 27 club appearances this season.
