Thomas Tuchel says his ailing center forward Romelu Lukaku will emulate Harry Kane and rediscover his form because he is a born goal scorer.
The £97.5m record signing has struggled for a regular first-team place under Tuchel with just eight goals this season and was dropped after an interview deemed to be disruptive prior to the Liverpool game, for which Lukaku subsequently apologized.
With Kane now seemingly back to his best for Spurs and with Chelsea facing their London rivals on Sunday, Tuchel drew a comparison between the England striker’s poor form at the start of the season and his own center forward.
Tuchel said: ‘I remember when there were a lot of critics for Harry Kane at the beginning of the season. But in the end, he is what he is. He’s a goalscorer.”
‘I think if you are a scorer at this level, you must have been scoring goals from six-years old.
‘You just have it and he will never lose it and it’s the same for Romelu.
‘These guys, at the end of the season, they will have a certain amount of goals. Why?
‘Because they have proved this is what they do. It’s simply what they do.’
Lukaku thrived at Serie A winners Inter last season, under today’s opposing manager Antonio Conte, scoring 47 goals in 72 games.
Tuchel said he had studied how Inter played in a bid to get the best out of Lukaku.
‘Yes, we’ve talked about this.
‘I watch football games and I can see where he plays, how he plays and the way Inter play.’