EPL: Belgium coach, Martinez suggests Lukaku leaves Chelsea to secure 2022 World Cup spot

 


Belgium coach, Roberto Martinez has suggested that Romelu Lukaku may have to leave Chelsea to secure a place in his squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Lukaku has struggled since he returned to Chelsea from Inter Milan last summer.

The 28-year-old has been dropped from the Chelsea squad and is in danger of losing his place in his country’s national team ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

The Belgium international has not started any of Chelsea’s last four Premier League games, having been left on the bench for their 4-0 win at Burnley at the start of March.

The former Manchester United star has made just twenty Premier League appearances, eight of which he has started, and Martinez believes the player will need to assess his situation ahead of this year’s World Cup in November.

“We are talking about players, like Romelu [Lukaku], who have got over 100 caps and are part of this group of players who know the national team inside out,” Martinez told The Sun.

“I am not going to judge or assess the condition of any player until after the summer because it is not a normal situation.

“It’s still seven months until the World Cup and probably you will go into the details of how a player feels when it gets closer to it than now.

“But there will be a lot of players who change clubs or are going to feel differently in the summer.

“Romelu needs to be assessed on how he feels in September, the same way Eden Hazard does and some others.

“But he is one of the players for whom the summer could be a big moment for their careers.”

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