Chelsea
boss Thomas Tuchel expects club-record signing Romelu Lukaku to have a "huge
impact" at Stamford Bridge but dismissed suggestions his side are now
Premier League title favourites.
Belgium striker Lukaku, who will not be available for Saturday's season
opener against Crystal Palace, rejoined the Blues on Thursday evening,
costing a reported £97.5m from Inter Milan.
The fee for Belgium's record goalscorer surpasses the £75.8m paid for Kai
Havertz last summer.
"We're happy to have Romelu back in the club; we think in terms of
personality, speed, power, he can be hopefully an excellent choice for us,"
said Tuchel.
"He has the power, the physique to help us, he has the experience, the
personality to have a huge impact. He is at the same time a humble guy, and
a true team player player and he cares about Chelsea.
"We had the feeling that it's worth to try and fight hard and we are happy
he is our player now."
Chelsea won the Champions League having replaced Frank Lampard with Tuchel
in January but scraped into the Premier League four by a point despite
defeat on the final day of the season.
Asked about being considered title favourites in some quarters, the German
said: "That surprises me because everybody who can read saw that we came
fourth and we needed some help on the last match day from our rivals to
arrive in fourth place and make it in the end a successful season.
"When you come fourth, you are not the favourites in the next season, we
have some gaps to close.
"We let Liverpool pass us in the last match and we have a big gap to close
to Manchester United and Manchester City. When I see the transfer market and
the activity from City and United, I don't see why they should be any worse
than last season.
"I think we are hungry and challengers for the top four first of all and
then after that we will always be hungry to challenge everybody for the best
possible outcome."
The headline-grabbing return of Lukaku, who Chelsea sold to Everton in 2014,
has cast further doubt over Tammy Abraham's future at Stamford Bridge.
Abraham will be involved against Palace this weekend, with Tuchel not ruling
out a potential move before the transfer deadline.
"There are always possibilities that players leave us. The situation for
Tammy is clear. I spoke many times about it. At the moment, there is no news
about Tammy," said Tuchel.
"We have a good relationship, he is our player and he is in the squad
tomorrow, he has the chance to play and be decisive for Chelsea and this is
where the focus is.
"The next days after that we will see what happens, what is Tammy's wish,
what are the possibilities but right now the focus is for Saturday and there
is no news for his situation."
Tuchel's home targets after Euro triumph
Thomas Tuchel is a coach so intent on looking forward rather than
luxuriating that Chelsea's Champions League triumph remains a mere series of
snapshots, a brilliant blur.
"I still haven't watched the 90 minutes back yet!" he laughs. "It was
necessary to process it a little bit. I watched bits of it with friends back
in Paris - just highlights to regain a bit of feeling - and when I went to
Germany to see my grandmother and my parents, everyone was speaking about
it.
"Seeing how happy my friends, my family, friends of the family were about it
made me happy.
"But I'm not the guy who looks back too much."
Tuchel's Chelsea legend is already secure after a half-season wonder during
which he outmanoeuvred Manchester City to deliver only the club's second
Champions League title, secured a top-four Premier League finish with a side
he found slumped in mid-table and transformed a team in the mind as well as
on the training pitch.
But here, firmly back "in the present" and further fuelled by an extended
contract as well as his family's arrival in London, his focus is on
sustained success at Stamford Bridge as he speaks to Sky Sports in the days
before the Blues' 2021/22 season opener against Crystal Palace.
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