
Pochettino Censure Chelsea And Lukaku Standoff
- Sports News
- August 20, 2023
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Newly appointed Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has put blame on Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku for strongly holding on their stand’s as transfer day deadline inches to a close.
Lukaku, who joined Chelsea over two seasons ago at a fee of £97.5 million, is still with the London based side despite being linked with a move away to other clubs all these while.
According to the Blue’s manager, both sides must share the blame for the long-running standoff between Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku with the striker’s future still not clear coming to an end.
Lukaku who signed for Chelsea from Inter Milan over two years ago has since not played for the club from May 2022 and has also not been given a squad number this season, has however, made it clear to Chelsea’s management his decision to leave.
Despite interest from the Serie A’ side-Inter Milan in taking him on a loan deal as they did last season, Chelsea have been unwilling to consider another temporary move and would rather prefer to sell the player outright, as they are keen to recoup as much as possible of the hefty transfer fee they paid for Lukaku over two years ago.
Meanwhile, Pochettino still feels Lukaku doesn’t fit into his plans despite the injury blow to summer signing Christopher Nkunku and the club’s failure to lure Michael Olise who opted for a contract extension with his club, Crystal Palace.
“The situation (with Lukaku) was clear before we arrived between the club and the player,” he said. “For us, there’s nothing to do.
“It’s not only one side. It’s two sides. It’s two sides to try to find the best solution. You cannot put it only on the club, the situation. It’s both sides. The situation is where it is because of two sides. It’s like when you have a player in or a player out. It’s because both sides arrive to an agreement.
“The situation is how it is, we cannot change. We were informed before we signed, the situation on every single player, and after we signed we had the squad we had. I think it is so clear, nothing changed.
“If there’s something to inform, the club will inform. “For me I need to be focussed on the team,” he added. “To try to perform. We cannot spend energy on a situation that was clear before we started here.” Pochettino said.
Chelsea have had difficulty in getting a potent striker since the days of Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge. The Blue’s struggled for goals last season, while former Arsenal and Barcelona striker-Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was scarcely used under former boss Thomas Tuchel who signed him, he was also considered surplus to requirements by subsequent managers Graham Potter and Frank Lampard.

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