Chelsea left to look silly by Tuchel outcast Lukaku after falling out over joke

What has gone wrong at Chelsea after billion-pound transfer spree?

Chelsea are still paying the price for a feud between their former coach Thomas Tuchel and Romelu Lukaku which ignited over an ill-judged joke between the pair. Tuchel was in charge for 18 months before he was brutally sacked by Todd Boehly in September 2022, while Lukaku has been loaned out for the past 14 months to Italian clubs Inter Milan and AS Roma respectively. But in the midst of their striker issues, the Blues have been left with a feeling of regret about their bitter fallout.

Pochettino’s side have scored only five times in six games – three of their goals came in the 3-0 win over winless Luton Town – and they haven’t notched in any of their last three matches against Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Aston Villa.

The Argentinian boss is already facing scrutiny over his position as a result, despite only taking over on July 1, although it is widely appreciated that the 51-year-old is not the sole reason for their struggles.

Summer signing Nicolas Jackson has struggled to hit the heights expected of him since his £32million switch from Villarreal with just one goal so far and a host of clear-cut chances squandered. Pochettino has Armando Broja as backup, but the Albania international is still finding his feet after spending 10 months out recovering from a ruptured ACL.

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With their current goalscoring problems, it begs the question why the club failed to sign a striker before the transfer window shut, having been linked with Dusan Vlahovic and Folarin Balogun. And more than that, why were Chelsea so hasty to force Lukaku out the door with scarcely any other players better than the Belgium international.

Chelsea spent £97.5m – then a club-record amount – on the signing of Lukaku from Inter Milan in August 2021. However, he headed back out the doors of Stamford Bridge to rejoin Inter just 10 months later after a bitter fallout with Tuchel, having bagged eight goals in 26 league outings.

In addition to giving an interview to Italian media professing his love for his former club, Lukaku and Tuchel’s relationship fell apart after a misguided joke went down badly with the 30-year-old. Whilst watching a game involving Spurs, Tuchel apparently offended Lukaku by quipping that Antonio Conte – the former Chelsea and Inter manager – was his ‘daddy’, according to reporter Nizaar Kinsella, speaking on The Italian Football Podcast.

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Months later, Tuchel exiled Lukaku and sent him off on loan to Inter Milan with the blessing of new owner Todd Boehly, who earned a £7m loan fee for the club. The American also negotiated a lower salary for Lukaku when he sealed a season-long loan move to AS Roma this summer, vastly reducing his £290,000-a-week wages.

He’s a proven goalscorer with 213 league goals in England, Italy and Belgium throughout his career, as well as becoming his country’s all-time record marksman with 77 goals in 110 caps.

Much has been said about Lukaku’s lack of mobility up front, but many would agree that he is an expert finisher and that is something Chelsea have lacked. Converting chances has been a huge problem for Pochettino’s men this season and their expected goals (xG) statistics are the worst in the Premier League by some margin.

According to data collected by the xG Philosophy, Chelsea are six goals worse off than they should be. Additionally, they have only converted 5.5 per cent of their chances, the second-worst ratio in the top-flight.

While Jackson and Raheem Sterling have been profligate in front of goal, Lukaku has hit the ground running since joining Roma on an initial loan deal, scoring three times for Jose Mourinho’s side so far in his first four games.

It has led to suggestions Jose Mourinho is already eyeing a permanent deal for the striker – while Chelsea have to get by with their threadbare options until January at least, leaving them to rue letting Lukaku go.

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