Thomas Tuchel confirms Romelu Lukaku set for Chelsea debut against Arsenal

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Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he is planning for Romelu Lukaku to make his second Chelsea debut against Arsenal next weekend.

The Belgium international rejoined his former club earlier this week after completing his £97million transfer from Serie A champions Inter.

Lukaku moved to Chelsea as a teenager from Anderlecht 10 years ago, but failed to make the grade at Stamford Bridge amid fierce competition from the likes of his idol, Didier Drogba, and Diego Costa.

The 28-year-old, however, returns to west London as one of Europe’s most prolific goalscorers and Tuchel will have hesitation throwing his club-record signing into action at the earliest opportunity.

Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace will come too early for Lukaku with the former Manchester United and Everton striker still in quarantine as per Covid-19 protocol, but he will be ready to face Arsenal next Sunday and their new £50m recruit Ben White who struggled on his competitive debut against Brentford last night.

‘Romulu is still in quarantine and following the protocols,’ Tuchel told reporters. ‘He will be out on Monday doing the whole training with us next week and will play for us against Arsenal. This is the plan.

‘We always try to do it as fast as possible and the sooner the better. As I said, if we could have wished for something, he would have been maybe on the pitch and available for even Wednesday.

‘But the sooner the better, because every game counts and we are happy.’

‘Before I even entered the club and had the chance to be part of it I thought of personalities up front of a certain category of striker like Didier Drogba, like Diego Costa, that for me embodies Chelsea and what Chelsea stands for,’ Tuchel added.

‘He will take the weight off the shoulders from our younger strikers, from our younger players around him, and I think this is a huge part of the story, that he does not step away and is also happy to make life easier for players around him.

‘I think these players like Christian [Pulisic], like Kai [Havertz], like Timo [Werner], they will benefit from him.’

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