Chelsea does not need the most expensive player in its history.. with conclusive evidence

London-Reuters.

Chelsea regained some of their attacking slack in their 2-0 win over Lille in the Champions League last 16 first leg on Tuesday night, but the talk at Stamford Bridge was about the striker who played no more than the other players involved.

Romelu Lukaku, the most expensive player in the club's history, sat on the bench and did not participate in the match, while his fellow strikers Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic scored the goals that put champions Chelsea in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals.

And last Saturday against Crystal Palace, Lukaku touched the ball only seven times, the lowest number of touches ever for a player to have been on the field for 90 minutes in a Premier League match since this data began to be recorded in the 2003-04 season.

This unwanted record added more questions about the role of the Belgian striker in the team of coach Thomas Tuchel, who appeared more dangerous this season in the absence of Lukaku due to injury or Covid-19.

Lukaku scored 24 goals in the league and provided 11 assists with Inter Milan last season to help them win the Italian league and started the current season well in his second spell at Stamford Bridge after moving to London in August.

He scored three goals in his first three matches in the Premier League and cooperated well with the rest of the attacking line.

But he has scored only two league goals since then and his comments in a TV interview, in which he said Tuchel's style did not suit him, deepened the sense that Lukaku was not the right player for Chelsea.

Tuchel told reporters after the victory over Lille that he saw that Lukaku needed a rest after starting several matches recently.

The German coach said, "The focus today was on ferocity, on a high-speed match and putting in a lot of effort without the ball. Lukaku has faced difficulties in recent matches to achieve that."

Lukaku scored two of Chelsea's three goals in the Club World Cup, which the London team won the title in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

But the threat Havertz posed throughout Tuesday's match against Lille, and the rate of effort he put in, suggest the German striker may be favored over Lukaku when Chelsea play Liverpool in the League Cup final at Wembley next Sunday.

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