Romelu Lukaku has ‘six weeks to save Chelsea career’, claims Joe Cole

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Joe Cole believes Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has just six weeks to save his career at the Premier League club.

The Belgium international has had an underwhelming time at the Blues since signing from Inter Milan for £97.5m in the summer, falling out of favour with manager Thomas Tuchel and suffering from a series of injuries.

The striker came off the bench in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace but could only hit the post from point-blank range.

Speaking on ITV, Cole said: “Lukaku has six weeks to save his Chelsea career. You look at Werner and he doesn’t give up. Lukaku wants to be that focal point but he missed a chance. When it’s not going for you, it’s not going for you.”

And he added: “People saw Lukaku as the missing piece of the jigsaw [when he returned to Chelsea last summer], it didn’t happen, but it can come back as quickly as it goes. Football can change in one game.”

Ahead of Chelsea’s 2-0 win against Palace, thanks to goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount, Tuchel explained why Lukaku was not in his starting line-up.

“It’s not easy to come into a game such as this with so much riding on it after a spell out with injury,” he said.

“It’s just a case of him not having as much minutes recently as the other players, his match fitness is not quite there otherwise there’s a big chance that he would have started today.”

Chelsea will face Liverpool in the FA Cup final on 14 May.