Chelsea have been criticised for failing to get the best out of Romelu Lukaku this season, since paying big money to sign him from Inter Milan last summer.
The Blues spent a club-record £97.5million on Lukaku last year, as per BBC Sport‘s report at the time, but the move hasn’t worked out for either the club or the player.
The Belgium international looked world class during his time at Inter, but he just hasn’t been able to replicate that form at Stamford Bridge so far.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside, former Arsenal midfielder Michael Thomas says he believes this is due to Thomas Tuchel’s style of play, as well as the other players he’s had around Lukaku.
“Lukaku didn’t quite hit the heights that the club bought him for,” Thomas said. “I think that is partly because of the way Chelsea set up to play, and the players around him.
“Once the club sort out the ownership then they definitely need to make a lot of changes this summer. They need two centre-backs after losing Rudiger and Christensen, possibly another central midfielder, and to sort out the centre-forward position, because you can’t spend the amount they’re spending on players and not use them to help the team.”
Chelsea lost a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at home to Wolves yesterday, and there’s now a very real chance that Thomas’ old club Arsenal could overtake Tuchel’s side in third.
Speaking to CaughtOffside earlier this week about the race for third, Thomas said: “Chelsea are in a tough position because they had third wrapped up for so long that they took got too relaxed and now it’s looking very open again.
“I do think they will still qualify for the Champions League, but as you can see, it can quite easily change at any game week.
“As for Arsenal, they should just be looking to win all their remaining games and see where that leaves them.”