Belgium international Romelu Lukaku is back in the Premier League as Chelsea spent £97.5 million to secure the services of their former player from Inter Milan. Lukaku knows English football very well. He has played for no less than four Premier League teams and, prior to this move to West London, he scored 96 goals in the league.
The Belgian has since gone on to become one of the best centre forwards in European football. Does he still have something to prove in the Premier League, though?
Arguably Lukaku’s best football so far in England came at Everton. In his final season on Merseyside, he recorded 25 Premier League goals. Only Harry Kane scored more than him that year. His performances with the Toffees earnt him a move to Manchester United. He had two seasons at Old Trafford, scoring 28 goals in the Premier League during his stay there. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over, he was not quite convinced Lukaku was a player who fitted into his team.
Lukaku jumped at the chance to join Antonio Conte at Inter Milan when they came knocking at United’s door. It was clear that it was going to be an exciting project in Italy and the 28-year-old played a huge role in helping the Milan-based club win their first Scudetto since 2010.
The powerful forward was named Serie A’s Most Valuable Player last season after he netted 30 goals in all competitions. Lukaku also featured at Euro 2020 for his country where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Competition after scoring four goals. However, his nation were eliminated by Italy in the quarter finals.
Chelsea May Have Added the Last Piece to Their Jigsaw
At the moment, when you take a look at the Premier League odds, you’ll see that Chelsea are second-best for the title this season. The European champions will be hoping the addition of Lukaku can help them prevail in their domestic league. The Blues had to settle for fourth place last season after they got off to a shaky start which led to the dismissal of Frank Lampard in January. Thomas Tuchel was hired to lead the team going forward and he has made an excellent start to his reign.
The German was desperate to bring in another goalscorer to his squad. Last season, Jorginho was the Blues’ top scorer in the Premier League with seven goals. But if Chelsea want to challenge for the title in the 2021/22 campaign, this must change.
Timo Werner had a difficult opening season in England. He is likely to be judged on what he delivers over the next nine months.  Tammy Abraham has left the club and has signed for Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Although Lukaku only played 15 games for Chelsea in his first spell at the club, he has the chance to add to what is already a strong team, which they proved that in the Champions League final.
The Belgian will be supported by the likes of Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, and Christian Pulisic in this Chelsea team. He should get plenty of opportunities to continue his hot run of goalscoring form and prove he belongs at the highest level in the Premier League.
