Lukaku explains motive behind explosive interview that sparked Chelsea row

It's been a whirlwind start to 2022 for Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea as an explosive interview was released by Sky Italia that landed the Belgian in hot water.

Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge this summer for a club record £97.5m but has already sparked fury amongst the Chelsea fans following his recent comments.

The Belgian was left out of Chelsea's crucial clash against Liverpool on Sunday by Thomas Tuchel after questioning the German's system, as well as suggesting that he would like to return to Inter Milan.

And now Lukaku has come out and apologised for his actions, and explained the motive behind his interview in what he believes to be a misunderstanding.

Following Sunday's 2-2 draw with Liverpool, Tuchel held clear the air talks with Lukaku on Monday, and now just 24 hours before Chelsea's Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham, the club have released a video of the Belgian who has apologised for his wrong-doing.

Lukaku apologised to the Chelsea fans as he said: "I'm sorry for the upset, cause you guys know the connection I have with this club since my teenage years. So you know, I totally understand you guys being upset.

"Obviously, it's up to me now to restore your trust. And I'll do my best to show my commitment every day on the training ground and in games, trying to make sure that we win games.

"And yeah, also, you know, to the manager, I apologise and also to my teammates and the board. Because, you know, I think it was not the right moment.

To add to his apology, Lukaku explained how his motive was misinterpreted and how he should have been 'clearer' in his message: "I think I should have been much clearer in my message to be honest.

"Because the interview was about saying goodbye to the Inter fans, it was not about trying to disrespect the (Chelsea) fans, the football club, the owner, my team-mates, the technical staff.

"Because they made a lot of efforts for me to come back here and I wanted to come back here. I was on a mission to come back since I left, so I totally understand the frustrations of the fans.

"But now it's on me to make sure my commitment is at 100 per cent and I will do that in every game.

"My club was Chelsea, everybody knows that from being 10 or 11 years old I said I wanted to play for Chelsea. There were clearly images when I came on my school trip that I said I wanted to play for Chelsea.

"So for me I came here when I was 18 it didn't go so well. Now I'm back at 28 in the prime years of my career - I can't really mess this up."

Lukaku will now be in contention to face Tottenham on Wednesday, and the perfect way to put this behind him and show his commitment would be to put in a strong performance against his former manager at Inter, Antonio Conte.