Romelu Lukaku apologizes to Chelsea fans after unfortunate statements

Romelu Lukaku has publicly apologized to Chelsea fans after his unfortunate interview with Sky Sport Italia last week led to him being dropped from the Blues squad.

Lukaku revealed his unhappiness at the club in the video and appeared to heavily hint at a future return to Inter Milan - just months after signing for Chelsea in a club-record $132 million deal.

Lukaku´s apologies 

“To the fans, I’m sorry for the upset that I caused,” Lukaku said in a video posted on Chelsea’s social media channels on Tuesday.

“You guys know the connection that I have had with this club since my teenage years, so I totally understand you guys being upset.

Obviously, it’s up to me to restore your trust and I’ll do my best to show commitment every day on the training ground and in the games, trying to make sure that we win games.

“Also to the manager, I apologize and to my teammates and the board because I think it was not the right moment and I want to move on from this and make sure that we start winning football games and that I perform for the team in the best manner."

The Belgian wanted to apologize to Inter fans but never to damage the Chelsea fans

Lukaku went on to insist that his Sky Sports Italy interview was only ever designed as a respectful goodbye to Inter fans – but that he now understands the damage caused by his comments.

“I think I should have been much clearer in my message, to be honest,” added Lukaku.

“Because the interview was about saying goodbye to the Inter fans, it was not about trying to disrespect the (Chelsea) fans, the football club, the owner, my teammates, the technical staff.

“Because they made a lot of efforts for me to come back here and I wanted to come back here.

“I was on a mission to come back since I left, so I totally understand the frustrations of the fans.

“But now it’s on me to make sure my commitment is at 100 percent and I will do that in every game.

“My club was Chelsea, everybody knows that from being 10 or 11 years old I said I wanted to play for Chelsea. There were clearly images when I came on my school trip that I said I wanted to play for Chelsea.

“So for me, I came here when I was 18 it didn’t go so well. Now I’m back at 28 in the prime years of my career – I can’t really mess this up.”

Tuchel also spoke on the subject and closed the issue

In the last Premier League match, Tuchel did not give in to Lukaku's statements at any time and left him out of the squad for the match against Liverpool. 

However, the German confirmed ahead of the clash against Tottenham that Lukaku has retracted his statement: "He has apologized and is back in the team. For me, it was fundamental to understand that his intention was not to say what he said. This is not as important as people think, but it is not a minor thing either. We are left with the fact that he has calmed down and accepts his apology."

Therefore, the striker will rejoin the team's dynamic after being sidelined. However, the Chelsea board did not consider a possible exit for one of the players for whom they bet the most in the last transfer market.