Lukaku begins road to redemption at Chelsea after ‘productive’ meeting with Tuchel — reports

Romelu Lukaku was back in training with the first-team as usual on Monday, after which he reportedly met with Thomas Tuchel to clear the air, offer an apology regretting his actions and keeping the interview secret for three weeks, and, most importantly, get back to work and start on his road to redemption. That’s according to multiple reports, including Sky Sports, Gianluca Di Marzio, the Telegraph, and many others, with the latter adding that Chelsea don’t believe the situation to be “irretrievable” and “neither party is thinking about a transfer, either in January or the summer”.

Lukaku may or may not offer a formal apology as well to the fans, which may or may not be necessary, depending on where you stand on this issue. For me, actions will always speak louder than words. And supposedly it was his desire to placate Inter Milan fans that landed him in this quagmire in the first place (which he apparently didn’t think would happen), so maybe we should just follow Tuchel’s semi-serious plan, and not have Romelu speak in public for a while.

The 28-year-old striker could be in line for an immediate recall as well after getting unceremoniously dropped for Sunday’s game against Liverpool, though it’s unknown if he will face any further formal punishment in the form of a fine or wages withheld. Chelsea take on Spurs in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal on Wednesday, with the added intrigue of Antonio Conte being in charge over there these days (and yet to lose a game in any domestic competition since taking over).

The Telegraph’s report again makes it clear that Tuchel has the full backing of the club over his handling of this whole mini-saga, with both Marina Granovskaia and Roman Abramovich name-checked, while the Athletic’s rundown of the situation names Jorginho, César Azpilicueta, Antonio Rüdiger, and N’Golo Kanté as (some of the) players whom Tuchel specifically consulted as well over the weekend.

Peace in our time! And now back to the football.