Once a Blue, always a Blue?
In 2011, Chelsea brought in a talented but raw Belgian striker by the name of Romelu Lukaku to be the heir to Didier Drogba’s throne at Stamford Bridge.
18 at the time, Lukaku took his time to adapt to the English game having come from Anderlecht where he scored 41 goals in 98 games and for a long time looked like the latest in a long line of players who weren’t able to cut it at this level.
Lukaku made 12 appearances in his debut season with the club without scoring and the decision was made by Jose Mourinho who returned to the club in the summer of 2012 to loan out the teenager with West Brom willing to take him for the season.
A regular run of games as the team’s focal point in attack did wonders for Lukaku who netted 17 goals in 38 games for the Baggies which prompted Mourinho to try him out in the first-team at Stamford Bridge the following season.
He made the substitute appearances at the start of the 2013/14 campaign but it was clear Mourinho wasn’t overly keen on the 20-year-old, but Everton were and he would again leave on loan.
It was at Goodison Park where the Belgian would start to realise his potential. After scoring on debut, Lukaku would net five goals in his opening five games for the Toffees who were already enamoured by his unique talent and skill-set.
After scoring 15 Premier League goals in 33 games that season, Everton realised they couldn’t afford to let Lukaku return to Chelsea and stumped up £30m to keep him at Goodison Park, over double what Chelsea had originally paid for him.
Over the last three seasons, Lukaku has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top strikers and his 19 goals this season already sees him atop the scoring charts for the first time in his career.
Under contract until 2019, it was widely believed thanks to the comments of his agent Mino Raiola that Lukaku would be signing a lucrative long-term deal with Everton but the 23-year-old has laid waste to those claims, informing Everton he will not be signing a new deal with the club.
Lukaku’s stance has alerted Chelsea who failed with a £57m bid to re-sign the striker last summer with the Toffees insisting they wouldn’t do business for any less than £75m.
The Mirror are claiming that Chelsea are growing increasingly confident of landing Lukaku in the summer, given the striker’s desire to play Champions League football and his claims that he has unfinished business at Stamford Bridge.
Competition will be strong as PSG, Juventus, Real Madrid and Manchester United are all interested in signing Lukaku ahead of next season.
