Thomas Tuchel lavishes praise on Romelu Lukaku ahead of Inter star’s £98m arrival

Thomas Tuchel believes Romelu Lukaku is on the same level as Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane ahead of his move to Chelsea.

The European champions are about to seal a club record £98million deal to re-sign the prolific Belgian, who Chelsea returned to after their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund’s Haaland proved unsuccessful.

‘Romelu is one of the guys like Haaland, Lewandowski and Kane, a real No 9 who loves to score and has a presence in the box,’ Tuchel said. ‘He has the kind of profile we are looking for.’

Timo Werner echoed Tuchel’s praise of his incoming strike partner, saying: ‘Lukaku is one of the best three strikers in the world, no question.

I don’t think we need to say much about him. He would benefit any team.’

Lukaku passed the main part of his medical in Milan on Monday before flying to Nice, with meetings planned for him and his agent Federico Pastorello in Monaco on Tuesday.  

The Blues have agreed a £98m deal with Inter to land the Belgian marksman this summer

Tuchel hailed Lukaku as one of the top strikers along with Erling Haaland (left) and Harry Kane

They were then due to fly into London to finalise his switch on Tuesday, but those plans were delayed by Inter’s bid to secure Edin Dzeko from Roma as a replacement for Lukaku. 

Jose Mourinho’s Roma, in turn, are attempting to land a successor to Dzeko and have made a £34m approach to Chelsea for Tammy Abraham, made up of an initial loan.

The Blues would prefer a permanent deal for Abraham, who is also admired by Arsenal.