Chelsea news: Thomas Tuchel admits Romelu Lukaku's comments are 'not helpful'

Thomas Tuchel has conceded that Romelu Lukaku’s comments are “just not helpful” after the striker expressed his displeasure with his situation at Chelsea. Lukaku gave an interview to Sky in Italy in which the Belgian said he was “not very happy with the situation” at Stamford Bridge. The interview was recorded earlier this month but published on Thursday – just a few days before Chelsea take on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in the Premier League. Notably, Lukaku had joined Chelsea in a club-record transfer in the summer from Inter Milan.

Asked for his reaction to Lukaku’s interview, Tuchel, as quoted by Sky Sports, said: “I don’t like it because it brings noise that we don’t need. It’s just not helpful. On the other side, we don’t want to make more out of it than it actually is. You know very well how it is – it’s very easy to take lines out of context. It’s very easy to shorten lines and make headlines, then later realise that it’s not so bad and maybe not what he meant. But let’s be honest that we don’t like it.”

Tuchel further went on to state that Lukaku did not speak to him about how he felt before the interview went live. “I don’t feel him unhappy,” said Tuchel. “I feel him the exact opposite, that’s why it’s a surprise. But I’m the wrong person to ask.”

Tuchel: We will do it behind closed doors

When asked whether the Belgian would be spoken to – and whether he could even face disciplinary action – replied: “We will and we will do it behind closed doors. We will do it openly, like I think the relationship has always been. No further comments in public on that.”

Chelsea conceded a late goal to settle for a disappointing draw against Brighton on Wednesday. Now it will be important for them to bounce back against Liverpool. Ahead of the match, though, Tuchel dismissed any suggestion that Lukaku’s words could cause problems within the dressing room.

“The dressing room is not necessary to be always in harmony,” he said. “It’s absolutely not necessary to be successful. You don’t have to hug each other, love each other every single day. Sometimes it’s good to be on the edge and be a bit in disharmony, in between certain boundaries.

“The thing with Romelu is I don’t think that anybody in this building is aware that he’s unhappy, and that’s what makes us surprised about these statements. So first of all we need to check because I see no reason why it should be like this. We wait for what Romelu says and then we will deal with it.”