Real reason Salah left Chelsea revealed; Lukaku labelled not good enough
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A former Chelsea coach at the heart of their loan system has revealed the real reason why current Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah left for good, and claimed Romelu Lukaku simply “wasn’t ready” in his first stint with the Blues.
Chelsea have become famed in English football for their extensive use of the loan system. A plethora of stars have spent time in the club’s ranks before going on to become major names elsewhere.
Two prime examples of that are Liverpool winger Salah and Manchester City playmaker, Kevin de Bruyne.
Salah was loaned out to Fiorentina and Roma before making a permanent switch to the Italian capital in 2016. After just one full year in Rome, Salah was snapped up by Liverpool and has proceeded to become one of the most lethal forwards in world football.
De Bruyne joined Werder Bremen on loan in 2012 before fellow Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg came calling after a year back at Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian ace was quickly scooped up by Pep Guardiola’s Man City after impressing at Wolfsburg and has been an integral part of their domestic domination over the past six seasons.
Now, speaking to Goal, former Chelsea loan technical coach, Eddie Newton, has revealed the real reason why Salah and De Bruyne didn’t work out at Chelsea.
Furthermore, he claimed recently re-signed hitman Romelu Lukaku wasn’t ready to make it at the Bridge first time round – unlike Salah and De Bruyne.
“For me, I think Salah and De Bruyne wasn’t about talent,” said Newton, who left his Blues post in 2019. “It was a personality clash [with Jose Mourinho]. I just didn’t think it was working at the time.
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“I think they were more than good enough. But it was the manager who didn’t see eye-to-eye with them, so it wasn’t going to work.
“For Lukaku, he wasn’t ready at the time, and I don’t care what anyone says.
“He just wasn’t ready to be the main No.9 up front and carry that platform like Didier [Drogba]. He was always going to be compared to Didier and it wasn’t fair to him at that time.
“It was different situations for different players.”
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Newton reveals Tuchel change of strategy
Newton then relayed what he knows of current boss Thomas Tuchel. In doing so, he believes the German will be willing to integrate the club’s rising youth corps more than previous managers.
“From what I hear at Chelsea at the moment, Tuchel is open to different things,” added Newton.
“He is a good guy, a good manager and is open to listening to different things. He will work with the youngsters coming in. It’s not just about working with the senior players.
“He’s from the German system, which is all about working with the young coach and young player. So he understands it. As well as that winning mentality, he understands development.
“No disrespect to any manager before, but Chelsea now have a manager who understands both sides of the coin. He knows he has to win titles, win matches and make tough decisions, but he also knows that there has to be a development space for these players.
“He’ll be getting the reports from the loan department, academy and have young boys training with the first team. He will understand it.”
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