Romelu Lukaku may need to consider his future at Chelsea as Belgium manager Roberto Martinez issues World Cup warning

Romelu Lukaku might have to depart Chelsea if he is to make Belgium's World Cup squad.

Manager Roberto Martinez said that his situation may need to be re-evaluated after the summer if he is still struggling at Stamford Bridge.

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Since returning to the club in what was a club-record fee, the £97.5million striker has found goals, and game time, hard to come by.

Just five strikes in 20 Premier League appearances have summed up his time in west London, and in their humbling to Brentford, he was named on the substitutes bench.

The relationship between Lukaku and manager Thomas Tuchel has been far from harmonious, especially after the comments the Belgian made in December 2021.

The former Manchester United forward said he was unhappy with the situation at Chelsea and with Tuchel's 'system'.

Whilst Lukaku said he won't be giving up, the statement from his international manager might cause him to look at options this summer.

Martinez said: "We are talking about players, like Romelu, who have got over 100 caps and are part of this group of players who know the national team inside out.

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

“It is still seven months to 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 in a different way in the summer.

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

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

The former Wigan Athletic manager also discussed his bond with the striker, and insisted he is 'committed' to Chelsea and in a 'good place'.

"We always speak. 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."