While it was clear when Thomas Tuchel was in charge of Chelsea that Romelu Lukaku no longer had a future at Stamford Bridge, things could change under Mauricio Pochettino.
This is what Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting on Thursday in a big article surrounding the Belgian’s future at Inter Milan and what the Argentine’s appointment could mean.
Pochettino is widely touted to become the next Chelsea manager, and while no official statement has been made just yet, it’s expected at some point in the next few weeks.
That’s why the Blues are planning their squad with him, which could include Lukaku next season against all odds.
This is, at least, what Pochettino would like, as the Belgium international ‘will be offered to relaunch his career at Stamford Bridge when he returns to London’.
Chelsea’s idea is to ‘present their new project to Lukaku, let him hear out what Pochettino has in mind for him and then give him some time to decide’.
They know they are in full reconstruction mode, and will focus solely on the Premier League, but the striker ‘will be offered a role in all of this’, allowing him to finally prove to everyone he has what it takes to truly be a star.
Therefore, the arrival of the new manager could ‘be the X-Factor’ that makes the player stay, but it also ‘may not be enough to convince’ the striker of staying.
Right now, he would prefer to play ‘anywhere but at Stamford Bridge’, with his preference being to stay where he is, at Inter.
A first challenge for Pochettino to overcome, then.
