Romelu Lukaku set to re-join Chelsea as new details emerge – ‘he will come back,’ says pundit
Alan Hutton has suggested Romelu Lukaku will struggle to get back into the Chelsea team when he returns from loan.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Tottenham and Aston Villa defender said it is up to Lukaku to “prove everybody wrong” if he returns to the Premier League.
Speaking to Sky Sports Italy (1 January), the 29-year-old says he was allowed to leave Stamford Bridge for Inter Milan after airing his grievances about Thomas Tuchel during a conversation with Todd Boehly.
The Belgium international re-joined Inter Milan in the summer on a season-long loan, just a year after he re-signed for the Blues for a club record fee of £97.5million.
Lukaku has struggled with injuries since his return to the Serie A club and has managed just one goal and one assist in six Serie A appearances so far this season.
The striker’s contract at Chelsea runs until 2026 and is set to return to London at the end of the season.
But Hutton has said it won’t be easy for Lukaku to get back into Graham Potter’s team.
“I would imagine he will come back,” he told Football Insider.
“That will obviously be the end of the loan so he will have to come back at least for a period of time.
“I think it is up to him to then go and prove himself to Potter.
“As a player you can sit and say you do not like this manager and that manager but you have signed to the club for a number of years. So it is going to be up to him to prove himself.
“It has not worked at Inter Milan, the World Cup did not work for him either. So it is up to him to go and prove everybody else wrong.”
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