Belgium manager Roberto Martinez claims Romelu Lukaku is in a “good place” mentally and is “committed” to Chelsea despite his lack of game time.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has chosen to start Kai Havertz ahead of the club record signing in recent weeks but Martinez says Lukaku is focused on finishing the season on a high note:

“I have a very close relationship with all my players. I would never tell a player what to do but we always share thoughts. At the moment Romelu is in a good place. He is so committed. He was delighted to win the Club World Cup and the next step is to finish the season strong with Chelsea and make sure he can feel very important.”

Martinez does also say that Lukaku may have to consider his future in the summer if things don’t change, but it appears that, despite speaking regularly with the player, he hasn’t detected that the striker is anyway unhappy.

Whether that is, in fact, the case, we shall see. If he doesn’t get the nod to start the club’s biggest game of the season, against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night, then we may hear more rumours about him being unsettled at the club.

Things haven’t exactly gone to plan since Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge in the summer but, if he can score some important goals over the next six weeks, his fortunes could dramatically change.