"That’s just £100 million wasted" - Michael Owen slams Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel for not trusting Romelu Lukaku

Former Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen has slammed Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel for not backing Romelu Lukaku enough. The 28-year-old rejoined Chelsea last summer from Inter Milan for £101.7 million following a hugely successful spell with the Serie A winners.

However, his form this season at Chelsea has been nothing like the sort that saw the Belgian score 64 goals in 95 appearances for Inter. Lukaku has nine goals and two assists in 27 appearances this season so far.

Following a bright start to life at Stamford Bridge, the striker has been hugely disappointing. His interview with Sky Italia in December, where Lukaku criticised Tuchel's system, only further soured his relationship with the club and the manager. Lukaku was most recently dropped for Chelsea's 2-0 victory over Lille in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.

However, following the decision to drop the Belgium international, Owen blamed Lukaku's struggles at Stamford on manager Thomas Tuchel. Owen told BT Sport (via Metro) in this regard:

"If you’re going to spend £100m on me, and I’ve been scoring goals all the time for Inter Milan, surely you’re going to back me through thick and thin?"

Owen continued:

"If you’re my manager, I’m thinking, 'I’m not going to score for three or four games on occasion, but don’t drop me' because you can totally lose somebody like that. And that’s just £100m wasted."

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Who is to blame for Romelu Lukaku's poor form at Chelsea?

Romelu Lukaku has been nothing like the player he was at Inter.

It was interesting to hear Owen place the blame of Lukaku's poor form on Tuchel, especially finding fault with the German manager for dropping the striker.

With an abundance of experience under his belt, the former Manchester United striker should know that any player under any circumstances is droppable.

That could be for the football side of things as is the case at present. Lukaku set an unwanted Premier League record for the least number of touches (7) in a game against Crystal Palace last weekend.

However, it was his damming interview with Sky Italia that perhaps changed everything for Lukaku and Tuchel. The striker has never truly looked like the imposing, powerful striker many Blues fans thought they were getting.

What he said in the interview was the polar opposite of the strength and fortitude many had associated with the Belgian before his move to west London. So for Owen to slam Tuchel for dropping Lukaku does not really hold up. That's because it's not just the lack of goals that is plaguing the striker, but he's also not having any influence on the team whatsoever.

Having a couple of games out of the side to refresh and rethink could be beneficial for Lukaku as the Blues seek a strong end to the season.