Fresh details have emerged on how the relationship between Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and Romalu Lukaku went sour after the former’s comment on Tottenham head coach, Antonio Conte.
Conte was Lukaku’s coach at Inter Milan before he joined Spurs last season.
Lukaku has endured a difficult time since his £97.5million return to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan last summer. But has now completed a £7m loan switch to San Siro ahead of the new season, agreeing to reduce his wages from £325,000 a week.
His second stint at Stamford Bridge, however, hasn’t gone according to plan, with the striker criticising Tuchel’s tactics in a controversial interview to Sky Sports Italia back in December.
He said: “I think I’m in a moment where the boss [Tuchel] could play me a little more but I have to respect his decisions, continue to work and wait for my time to come.The player’s relationship with both the club and fans, has been far from perfect and even less so, after Tuchel reportedly offended him over a comment made about Conte. Goal journalist Nizaar Kinsella told the Italian Football Podcast: “Somebody told me once that Tuchel and Lukaku were chatting watching a Spurs match, Tuchel then said ‘there’s your daddy’ about Antonio Conte as a joke. It did not go down well with Lukaku.”
The Belgium international was very vocal about his relationship with the Italian boss and his influence on his development as a player. “I speak regularly with Conte, not just about football but life in general,” Lukaku said. The boss made a choice, I have to keep working and at some point we will talk with Tuchel and see how it’s going.”
