The Belgian was left out of the squad for our last match, Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool in the Premier League, as Tuchel looked to minimise distractions for such a big game. However, our head coach has since confirmed Lukaku is back in contention to feature against Tottenham in the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge tonight after apologising.

Speaking about Lukaku’s media comments themselves, our head coach explained he feels they were down to the player’s frustration that it is taking time for him to adapt to life at Chelsea following his summer move from Inter Milan, a situation they are both committed to solving as soon as possible.

‘I feel that he is more impatient than anything else,’ said Tuchel. ‘He is impatient, he wants to be involved more, he wants to have big chances more. It is hard for him to accept that sometimes the grass does not grow faster when you pull it.

‘Like in every transfer you have to accept there is a change of environment, there is a change of city, there is a change of culture, change of club, change of team-mates, there is a change of playing style, there is a change of league. He is not the first player to take some time, but while he was doing it he was already scoring and we were still in the situation to adapt to each other.

‘It is of course our job to bring out the best in him, to find the right position, to find the right assists, to find the right connections and understand to which movements he has a good connection with and which playing styles fit to each other.

‘Of course, in the end it’s on the player. We can just help to fulfil his potential and this is what we do and sometimes it’s faster, sometimes it’s a bit slower, sometimes it’s a bit easier. But in the end everyone does their very best to bring out the full potential and we are still convinced that there is room for improvement.

‘The most important thing is he wants absolutely to do it. I feel a lot of impatience but I don’t feel him unhappy, not at all.’

Tonight’s opponents Tottenham are managed by Antonio Conte, someone Chelsea fans know well from his time with the Blues, but who was also in charge of Inter Milan during arguably the best season of Lukaku’s career so far.

While Tuchel is an admirer of the work Conte did at the San Siro, he suggests the task of getting the best out of Lukaku is not as simple as just copying the way Inter played with him in their side.

‘We cannot just play like Inter Milan played and hope that will bring the best out of Romelu. The system Antonio Conte played at Inter did not only suit Romelu and his second striker Lautaro Martinez, it fit the whole squad. If you do not have five defenders you cannot play with a back five, it’s as easy as that. If you do not have a winger you cannot play with wingers.

‘The coaches do what they have to do. Antonio Conte played with a 3-4-3 in the build-up when he was at Chelsea, at Inter he played a 5-3-2, so obviously he’s adapting to his players and from there implementing his ideas. This is what I do, I adapt to my players, put them in positions where they are confident, where they can help the team and fulfil their potential.

‘I have nothing but full respect for Antonio Conte, he’s such an emotional and influential coach on the sideline. I really love to watch his teams play. It will be a pure pleasure to play against him, it is very hard to beat his teams and it will be like this today.’

With Lukaku back in the squad for a London derby against our rivals Tottenham, in a cup semi-final, and facing the manager he enjoyed plenty of success under in Italy, the stage seems set for our No.9 to begin repaying the Chelsea fans tonight.

The possibility of including Lukaku in the team from the start to do exactly that certainly appears to be on Tuchel’s mind, although he points out the striker’s recent performances since returning from injury and Covid seem like he has already been trying to make up for his error in judgement.

‘It would be a nice moment to start the payback,’ added Tuchel. ‘The weirdest thing is he did already. I had the feeling ‘wow’ after Covid, when we let him play at Aston Villa and he was so decisive for us, and the next game he scored again. I had a feeling like payback time starts already, so we had a bit of a delay. Tonight could be a good occasion to let him start.’