Antonio Rudiger excited at the prospect of linking up with ‘BEAST’ Romelu Lukaku ahead of Inter star’s £98m arrival at Chelsea… but Thomas Tuchel refuses to shed any light on Belgian’s arrival – or the potential exit of Tammy Abraham
- Antonio Rudiger is excited at the prospect of playing with Romelu Lukaku
- The Belgian, 28, is on the cusp of rejoining Chelsea in a £98m transfer from Inter
- Rudiger has described the Belgian marksman as a ‘beast’ ahead of his move
- Thomas Tuchel, however, refused to discuss Lukaku’s big money transfer
Antonio Rudiger has excited at the prospect of playing with ‘beast’ Romelu Lukaku as the Inter Milan striker nears his Chelsea return, although Thomas Tuchel has refused to be drawn into discussions over the £98million move.
The Inter striker travelled from Milan to London on Monday night ahead of his return to Stamford Bridge having already completed the first part of his medical in the Italian city.
Tuchel has sought a striker as his No 1 priority and Lukaku’s arrival will provide a huge boost to the European champions in their pursuit of Manchester City in the Premier League this season.
Antonio Rudiger has excited at the prospect of playing with ‘beast’ Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea
Lukaku, 28, is on the cusp of rejoining Chelsea in a huge £98m move from Inter Milan
And Rudiger has welcomed the prospect of linking up with the Belgian marksman in west London, labelling the former Manchester United and Everton striker a ‘beast’.
‘I think you can see from his body type, he is a beast,’ Rudiger said ahead of Chelsea’s European Super Cup final against Villarreal.
‘He is very strong and he showed it in Italy where he did very well. Also, in his national team. He’s a goalscorer and a top striker.’
Lukaku, 28, endured a torrid first spell at Stamford Bridge, with a lack of first team opportunities seeing him offloaded to Everton for £28m in 2013. However, he has emerged as one of Europe’s top strikers with 64 goals in 95 games for Inter.
Rudiger has faced Lukaku previously and is looking forward to linking up with the Belgian
Tuchel, though, has refused to discuss Lukaku’s impending arrival, insisting that he is content with his current squad if it remains as it is for their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace.
‘I am absolutely not in a position to announce anything and I will maybe refuse to talk about it because we are in a match day press conference before a European final and it is clearly not the moment for personal discussions of our squad,’ he said.
‘I have a lot of trust in our current squad. With Olivier Giroud leaving we miss a certain profile of attacker, we wait to see what is possible and what is not possible.
‘We are happy to arrive with a team like it is tomorrow but at the moment there is nothing to announce.’
Thomas Tuchel, however, has remained tight-lipped over the impending arrival of Lukaku
Meanwhile, Tuchel said that Chelsea exile Tammy Abraham remains part of his group, with the striker linked with an exit this summer. Atalanta, Roma and Arsenal have all been linked with the 23-year-old.
‘Tammy is right now in the squad, he was clearly not happy with the last half a year, he has reason not to be happy and maybe it is also my fault to not push him and not trust him on the level of some other players,’ Tuchel added.
‘The situation is what is our plans, does he fight his way back into the team or does he want to change club to have a better chance to be a regular starter which I completely understand.
‘It is a normal situation until the window is closed, we constantly evaluate the situation but there is no news now and he is in training today and available to be in the starting 11 or come off the bench.’