Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has been warned Thomas Tuchel will move on without him if he doesn’t improve on the pitch.
Lukaku became Chelsea’s record signing last summer when he re-joined the Blues from Inter Milan for £97.5million. However, the Belgian is yet to live up to his huge billing.
Lukaku has scored 10 goals in 28 appearances in all competitions.
He has netted just five times in 17 outings in the Premier League.
The 28-year-old hit the headlines in December after an interview with Italian media emerged where he appeared to hit out at his head coach Tuchel.
Lukaku has since been brought back into the fold after being left out for one game due to the interview.
But despite his hefty price tag and huge contract, former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino says Lukaku must buck his ideas up soon.
Cascarino says Chelsea will not wait for him to improve and will move on without him if necessary.
The pundit told talkSPORT: “It just feels Lukaku’s very isolated a lot of the time and with that I think the frustration for Chelsea fans is that he’s not quite pulling his weight as well.
“They sense that he’s not buying into what’s really required of him.
“We can go back to the interview about Inter Milan and how he loved it [there].
“When it’s going well for you somewhere and you’ve done brilliantly well and then you have a move and it’s not quite the same and you haven’t got the same relationship with the players, and you’re a big earner, Chelsea don’t wait for strikers.
“They won’t wait for Lukaku either.”
Lukaku touched the ball just seven times in Chelsea’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
He played the whole match at Selhurst Park but was ineffective for the visitors.
Cascarino can sense huge amounts of frustration in the forward’s game.
He added: “Lukaku is one who wants to get on your shoulder, into space and wait for the ball to come in behind that back line where he can have that half a yard and use his strength to score a goal.
“Chelsea are not a crossing team. [Hakim] Ziyech can be on the ball and he is a deliverer of the ball into good areas.
“He also takes a lot of shots and he’s looking to try and get it in there in the top corner.
“It’s a very frustrating time for him [Lukaku] and to have seven touches in the game, where one’s a kick-off and one’s a clearance, it clearly tells you he’s very frustrated.”