Romelu Lukaku lays out Chelsea frustrations as Thomas Tuchel's side stumble through winter fixtures

The Belgian pronounced himself unhappy with Tuchel's usage of him in an interview that took place three weeks ago

Romelu Lukaku has added to Chelsea's on- and off-field headaches, with newly published comments from the striker declaring his dissatisfaction with Thomas Tuchel's usage of him at a time when he was struggling to establish himself in the manager's starting XI.

In an interview with Sky Italy, Lukaku declared himself unhappy with his situation -- and Tuchel's system -- at Chelsea while revealing his desire to return to Inter Milan mere months after his $135 million move from the Italian champions to Stamford Bridge. At the time, Lukaku was professing how rejoining the club he had left in 2014 was bringing his career full circle; now he has indicated that west London is certainly not the last stop in his prime years.

CBS Sports understands the interview took place three weeks ago, something which may go some way to changing the tenor of Lukaku's comments. At the time, he had returned from a hamstring injury but was being carefully managed by Tuchel, making substitute appearances in four straight Premier League matches before testing positive for COVID-19. Since returning from that further spell on the touchline, he scored and won a penalty in a second-half cameo against Aston Villa before starting and scoring against Brighton.