Tuchel looking lost as curse of the No9 shirt falls on Lukaku

ROMELU LUKAKU has gone from the final piece of the puzzle to just another problem for Thomas Tuchel.

- James Robson

BRIGHTON v CHELSEA

The £97.5million club record signing was supposed to be a game-changer for Chelsea, the man to close the gap to Manchester City and, perhaps, deliver a first Premier League title since 2017.

Instead, Tuchel finds himself further away from the top of the table than he was the day he took charge at Stamford Bridge almost a year ago.

And if the 13-point gap to Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders is not enough to make him sit uneasily as he approaches his 12-month anniversary, his failure to get the best out of Lukaku only compounds his problems.

When Roman Abramovich spends big, he expects a return on that investment. The struggles of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner contributed to Frank Lampard’s sacking last year. The German duo are still to find their feet in English football and now find themselves joined by Lukaku, who has already publicly voiced his frustrations since his summer move from Inter Milan.

The difference with Lukaku is that he was supposed to be the finished article. He already knew English football and already knew Chelsea, having come through the academy. He was also a proven winner with Inter, having fired them to the Italian title last season.