Romelu Lukaku more than crossed the line, says Graeme Souness as pundits back Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel

Graeme Souness says Romelu Lukaku must apologise to his teammates after comments he made in an interview led to Thomas Tuchel dropping the striker from Chelsea’s squad for their huge Super Sunday clash with Liverpool.

However, fellow pundit Gary Neville says an apology isn’t necessary if Lukaku has told the truth – but he must work hard to win back the trust of his manager and fans in what is now “rather than a love story, a transactional relationship.”

In an interview with Sky Italy, recorded a few weeks ago but aired this week, Lukaku – who has only just returned to the starting line-up after injury and Covid – said he was unhappy with his role at the club and would like to return to Inter Milan in the near future.

See also – Romelu Lukaku not happy with the situation at Chelsea

Sky Sports pundit Souness described Lukaku’s decision to say those things as “ridiculous and damaging” and backed boss Thomas Tuchel for leaving out the £97.5m forward, despite the enormity of the game, which could end Chelsea’s hopes in the Premier League title race.

“You’re trying to understand how a player has got to a stage where he’s come out with such a ridiculous and damaging statement,” said Souness.

“We’ve all played with players who need to be training every day and playing every week to get the best out of them. Lukaku is a powerful man, and he’s been used sparingly by the manager.

“He’s physically big and strong and has to be playing games all the time to be scoring goals. Wayne Rooney, I imagine, had to be like that to get the very best out of him. [Lukaku] was frustrated at not coming back and going straight into the team and has come up with the nonsense he’s said.

“It was totally disrespectful. He’s 29 years old not 19 and he should know better. This damages the football club enormously. It’s like walking into a dressing room and telling the other guys, ‘I don’t want to be with you anymore.

“It damages the manager, and he should say, ‘If you don’t fancy it here, there’s the door. On you go’. The first thing I’d do if I was Thomas Tuchel is I’d tell Lukaku that he needs to apologise. He needs to stand in front of everyone in the dressing room and apologise unreservedly.

“If he’s not prepared to come to me as the manager, I’d come to him and have an honest conversation over whether he really meant it or whether it was a mistake. If he’s not apologised, then he’s done the right thing [in leaving him out].

“Tuchel has put a marker down and Lukaku has more than crossed the line. He has to apologise to his teammates. It was so offside, it beggars belief.”

Neville: No need for ‘sorry’ – but Lukaku must now work hard

Meanwhile, Neville took a different view, instead hoping Lukaku doesn’t backtrack on his comments for the sake of it.

Instead, the former Manchester United captain wants to see the Belgian accept the situation he is in – and the large contract he is on at Chelsea – and deliver the goals the club expects from him.

“I don’t think any manager could be criticised for that approach [to drop Lukaku],” he said. “Control is critical for a manager. If you have heard those words in the week, they’re not easy words for the manager to hear and not easy words for the owner to hear. But also for the team-mates who are trying to win a Premier League title.

“I’ve been very critical of players over this last three or four months for standard, bland PR messages, not being themselves and when a player comes out and is truthful and authentic, I can’t stand here and say that it’s something I don’t want to hear. I know Chelsea’s fans don’t want to hear it, I know Chelsea’s owners and players don’t want to hear it but from our point of view, he’s told the truth.

“When he came on against Aston Villa two weeks ago I thought he had a fantastic impact on the game. But when I looked at his body shape, he looked like the Manchester United Lukaku rather than the one that was at Inter Milan. Tuchel has alluded to the fact he wants him to train harder, work harder.

“I think Chelsea will have been amazed those comments came out this week. I think it would have stunned them. Tuchel, because of his Champions League success is in a position of strength. You’re never in a position of total strength here but he’s done a brilliant job. I do think the players respect them. Those words will have hurt this week and will have hurt his team-mates.

“What I’m looking for now from Lukaku isn’t a sorry. I don’t think he can say sorry, if he’s told the truth as brutally as he has all he can do is make this relationship transactional and say, ‘I said what I said, I stand behind what I said, in hindsight, I should have kept it to myself but I guarantee you I’ll give you my all for the next 3-4 years of my contract because there’s been a large investment into me’.

“What I don’t want to see this week is some sort of, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I love this club’. That’s not going to wash. He’s told the truth, we appreciate it but it’s difficult to unravel the truth when it’s as brutal as what Lukaku has said. He has to now somehow try to win his way back into Tuchel’s plans. The fans have to accept him – and I think they will if he carries on playing and he does what he’s been doing.

“Win matches for the football club and the fans will be won round. But it does become, rather than a love story, a transactional relationship.”