Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku must share blame for standoff

Mauricio Pochettino said both sides must take their share of the blame for the long-running standoff between Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku with the striker’s future seemingly no closer to being resolved.

The Belgium international, who cost £97.5million when he signed from Inter just over two years ago but has not played for the club since May 2022 and has not been given a squad number this season, has made clear his desire to leave.

But despite interest from the Serie A side in taking him on a loan deal as they did last season, Chelsea have been unwilling to consider a temporary move and would rather he was sold, though they are keen to recoup as much as possible of the hefty transfer fee they paid.

Pochettino has only one recognised striker available for Sunday’s visit to West Ham, summer signing Nicolas Jackson, though the manager said he expects academy product Armando Broja to play a role this season once he has recovered from the ACL injury that has kept him out since December.

On Lukaku’s prospects of being reintegrated into the team, he said that nothing has changed since pre-season, despite the injury to summer signing Christopher Nkunku and the club’s failure to lure Michael Olise from Crystal Palace this week.

“The situation (with Lukaku) was clear before we arrived between the club and the player,” he said. “For us, there’s nothing to do.

“It’s not only one side. It’s two sides. It’s two sides to try to find the best solution. You cannot put it only on the club, the situation. It’s both sides. The situation is where it is because of two sides. It’s like when you have a player in or a player out. It’s because both sides arrive to an agreement.

“The situation is how it is, we cannot change. We were informed before we signed, the situation on every single player, and after we signed we had the squad we had. I think it is so clear, nothing changed.

“If there’s something to inform, the club will inform.”

Chelsea’s difficulty with strikers predates Pochettino’s arrival at Stamford Bridge.

The team struggled for goals last season, while ex-Arsenal and Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was largely sidelined having been signed under former boss Thomas Tuchel but considered surplus to requirements by subsequent managers Graham Potter and Frank Lampard.

He left to join Marseille in July but Pochettino has inherited the uncertainty surrounding Lukaku from his predecessors.

“For me I need to be focussed on the team,” he added. “To try to perform. We cannot spend energy on a situation that was clear before we started here.”

The manager also reiterated his objectives for the season that nothing short of qualification for the Champions League will be deemed acceptable.

Chelsea finished 12th last season and missed out on Europe for only the second time since 1996, but with £350m spent so far on summer recruits there is expectation from Pochettino that the gap to the top four must be closed quickly, with winning the Premier League title his next aim.

“My mind is to come back to Europe in the Champions League next season,” he said. “We cannot accept another idea (other than) to put the club in the position they deserve to be.

“If someone is thinking in this way, I would be very worried, in this training ground or in Stamford Bridge.

“Today it’s so early to think too much on this situation. The idea is to win the Premier League. If someone has a different idea, it’s better to tell us, and we’ll say maybe we’ll find some solution.

“If we can create and perform in the way that we expect from day one, that is a process that we need to build. The mentality needs to be to win and to expect to play in the Champions League and to win the Premier League. If not, we will fail.

“The challenge is to create the mentality that all is possible.”

Meanwhile, the Blues have confirmed winger Hakim Ziyech has completed a season-long loan move to Galatasaray.

The 30-year-old Morocco international, who joined the club in a £33.3million switch from Ajax during the summer of 2020, has made 107 appearances and scored 14 goals.

A statement on Chelsea’s official website said: “Hakim Ziyech has completed a season-long loan to Galatasaray, with an obligation to make that move permanent. We wish Hakim well for his season ahead in Turkey.”