"I’d feel embarrassed" - Chris Sutton slams Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku after poor performance against Crystal Palace

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku broke an unwanted record in their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Belgian striker had just seven touches in the entire match, one of which was from the kick-off. This is the lowest of any player since the stats started being collated in the 2003-04 season.

This is extremely disappointing for the striker, who was signed by Chelsea for a club-record £97.5 million from Inter Milan last summer.

Former Chelsea forward Chris Sutton knows all about the situation. He was signed by the Blues in 1999 from Blackburn Rovers for a then-record fee of £10 million. However, he failed at the club and was sold the following season to Celtic.

In his column for Daily Mail, Sutton bashed Lukaku for his performance against Palace. He wrote:

"I could look back at my time at Chelsea and blame everybody else. My manager, my team-mates, the tactics, the pressure of the price tag, whatever. But ultimately, I blame myself. I was the club’s record signing. I cost them £10 million in 1999 and it didn’t work out, so I was sold after a single season in blue."

He added:

"Yet if I had ever finished a game having had only seven touches of the ball, I’d feel embarrassed walking back into that training ground."

Sutton blamed Lukaku's efforts in the match as well. He wrote:

"For a striker to come out of 90 minutes with that sorry statistic screams ‘I’m hiding’ and there’s no escaping that for Romelu Lukaku. Maybe he will blame a lack of service, but that’s only part of the problem. If Lukaku wanted to touch the ball more than seven times against Crystal Palace, he could have done. He could have made better movements. He could have made it impossible for his team-mates to ignore him."

He added:

"He could have demanded they play the ball into him. He could have screamed and shouted and told them: ‘I’m this club’s record signing so f***ing feed me.’ There were times when Lukaku looked to make runs behind and the ball didn’t come. But just seven touches overall? That’s primarily on Lukaku — not the players around him. One of those touches was from kick-off, too."

"He should be motivated" - Chris Sutton on Lukaku ahead of Chelsea's Champions League fixture

Chelsea take on LOSC Lille in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the Champions League on Tuesday. It could be a big chance for the Belgian striker to right the wrongs from the match against Crystal Palace.

Sutton believes that the striker will be "motivated" to do well.

He wrote:

"Now they play Lille in the Champions League tonight. Lukaku will go into this game knowing there has been major talk of his seven touches. He should be motivated to want to beat that total early on and if he scores, he might even go for the old ‘shush’ celebration."

Sutton concluded:

"The best way to silence his critics would be to do what Tuchel is telling him to do — to play the way your manager wants and serve your side by not letting games pass you by. Lukaku can be a deadly finisher of chances when he wants to be and that’s why his disappearing act at Selhurst Park was so alarming."