Lukaku apologizes .. and Tuchel calls him to the Chelsea squad

German coach Thomas Tuchel accepted the apology made by the Belgian striker Romelu Lukakau after statements he made in a recent television interview, to be available for Chelsea in the first leg of the semi-finals of the English League Cup on Wednesday against its guest Tottenham.

He excluded his player, who returned to the London club this season with the most expensive deal in the history of the Blues, amounting to 98 million pounds (132 million dollars) after two successful seasons with Inter, from the squad that faced Liverpool in the league last week (2-2).

Lukaku had said during an interview with "Sky Italia", which was recorded in mid-December and broadcast last week, that he would like to return to Inter in the near future.

But Tuchel said on Tuesday that speaking with the Belgium international had convinced him that the 28-year-old had no intention of making noise in the London club's dressing room and that he was now determined to "clean up the mess".

He said during a press conference on the sidelines of the match, "First of all, we are happy that we took the time to look at things calmly and speak calmly... I apologize and he will return to the team for training today (Tuesday)."

"For me, the most important thing was for me to understand very clearly that what he did was not intentional. He didn't do it on purpose to make noise before such a big match. This is the first time he has acted like this."

Tuchel tried to smooth over the issue by saying, "It's not as big as people want it to be, but it's also not small...but small enough to keep calm, accept apologies and move on. He knows what happened and what generated it and feels a responsibility to clean up the mess."

"He can handle it, but he has no other choice. He cannot expect everyone to be happy from the next day.... We are happy that he is our player and we will protect him," the former Paris Saint-Germain coach added.

Lukaku had criticized his coach for not playing in many matches after recovering from an injury that kept him out for about five weeks, and said in this regard, "I am not happy with this situation, this is normal. I think the coach decided to play in a different way and therefore I have to not give up and keep working and be good." professionally.”

He also announced his desire to return to Inter by saying, "I think the time has come for me to talk about this issue because Inter still has a special place in my heart. I will return to play there and I really hope so."

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