Chelsea’s Answer To Their Striker Crisis Is Right Under Their Noses

Jose Mourinho. Chelsea manager, tactical genius, media funny man and master agitator. All words used to describe the man himself. Another thing the Portuguese man has become known for, although there isn’t quite a phrase to describe it, is publicly lambasting his misfiring strikers on a regular basis. In Demba Ba, Samuel Eto’o and Fernando Torres, he reckoned he didn’t have the firepower to win the Premier League last season. A great vote of confidence for those players. It seems Diego Costa of Atletico Madrid is the answer to the question in Mourinho’s eyes, but what if the answer was in front of him the whole time.

Lukaku during a rare start for Chelsea, on this occasion in a friendly against Inter Milan. Mandatory Credit: Tom Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Romelu Lukaku spent last season on loan from Chelsea at Everton. The year before that he found himself with West Brom. With both teams he stood out, and you have to wonder why he has never been given a fair chance by Chelsea.

Bought for £10 million as a teenager after destroying much older defenders while playing for Anderlecht, many believed Chelsea had found the heir apparent to the aging Didier Drogba. It hasn’t quite panned out that way though, with Drogba long gone and Lukaku still having only ever played ten times for Chelsea.

It’s a puzzling question, not least because the comparisons between Lukaku and Drogba are so easy to make. To put how good Lukaku is into perspective though, it is worth remembering that Drogba didn’t sign his first professional contract until he was twenty-one. Lukaku is the the same age now, and is set to star for dark horses Belgium at this summer’s World Cup. On top of that, he also scored seventeen goals in thirty-five games for West Brom and fifteen goals in thirty-one games for Everton. He’s proved already that he can cut it in England’s top flight, so why aren’t Chelsea trying to harness the devastating damage this guy can cause opposition teams?

To speak from my own experiences for a moment, I grew up hating Didier Drogba. The reason I hated him was because he was so good, and ok he was a bit of a actor on the pitch as well. His power destroyed the team I support, Arsenal, on so many occasions, be it in the league or the league cup final. Last season, Lukaku scored a tremendous goal against Arsenal as they were soundly beaten by Everton at Goodison Park. To say I’d seen a ghost was an understatement.

The Belgian made great strides forward, Arsenal players either bouncing off him or not even attempting to tackle him, before he powerfully drilled the ball into the bottom corner. It was like watching Drogba all over again, only better, more athletic. On a personal level, why Chelsea may let him walk away from the club after seeing performances like that baffles me.

Yet here we are, with Costa seemingly on the way into Chelsea and Mourinho doing little to stop Lukaku going the other way. There were suggestions he may move to Everton permanently. With the greatest of respect to them, that is laughable. Lukaku has the ability to play for essentially any club he wants to, at the very least one that can offer Champions League football to him. Perhaps it is the old school nature of his play that has turned Mourinho off him, but that is irrelevant as he is so effective at what he does.

About the only potential positive for Chelsea is that, with the World Cup acting as a shop window, his value could be about to go through the roof. Should he play well this summer, many teams will try and sign him, with Chelsea standing to make a tidy profit. Again quite why they want to let him go is hard to understand, but if they are adamant Costa is their main striker going forward, they can at least make considerable money off Lukaku.

All of the times last season Mourinho cried out for a striker to grab games by the scruff of the neck, and they already had one. The only problem was he was wearing the blue of another team. If this really is the end of Lukaku’s time at Stamford Bridge, the one question many will have once he lands elsewhere and continues to grow into one of the most feared predators in the world will be why he was allowed walk away so easily.