Romelu Lukaku ‘not thinking about leaving Chelsea’ — report

Romelu Lukaku was dropped for Tuesday’s Champions League clash after starting the previous ten in a row, and that has provided just the opening for stories like this morning’s from Gazzetta dello Sport, which claims that Lukaku ‘is ready’ to return to Inter Milan.

Of course, the report then goes on to debunk that possibility from multiple angles, including both sporting and financial, for both Inter and Chelsea, but headlines drive the narrative.

To stem that flow, we now also have reports to the contrary, and from closer to home. The Guardian claims, for example, that Lukaku “is not thinking about leaving Chelsea this summer and is focused on winning back his place”, which is a similar line to what the likes of the Telegraph and Goal have been running with this week as well.

Lukaku apparently “remains determined to make a success of his second spell” at the club, which is the right attitude and response. Chelsea captain César Azpilicueta has also thrown his full support behind the striker, as one would expect.

“We can’t forget Romelu is a very important player for us – at the Club World Cup, he scored two goals, one in the semi-final and one in the final. In the last game, the team performance maybe was not our greatest but we won and we want to improve our game. Romelu, I have no doubts, is an important player for us.

“The manager made the decision [against Lille] to have him on the bench and play other players, but he will be the first one who will want to show his qualities and I don’t doubt he will be a key player for us. Romelu will show his ability straight away, of course”

-César Azpilicueta; source: Football.London

Let’s hope so!