After a fantastic season spent on loan at West Bromwich Albion will Romelu Lukaku get a chance to lead the Chelsea attack next year? Much will depend on the new manager appointed to lead the Blues by Roman Abramovich, with Jose Mourinho the overwhelming favourite to return to the club he left many years ago. Would the ‘special one’ find a place for the Belgian striker or would he stick with Fernando Torres, despite his obvious lack of form since signing for £50m from Liverpool?
Signed from Anderlecht whilst still a teenager, his talent was clear to see from a young age. Big, strong and with a good eye for goal, he was being likened to Didier Drogba well before he actually signed for Chelsea. He commanded a large fee for such a young player, yet spent most of the first season in London playing with the reserves. He managed just eight first team appearances and declared that he was disappointed with his contribution.
WBA was the first proper chance he was given in England to demonstrate his goal scoring ability and he definitely took it with both hands. A return of 17 goals in 35 appearances, including a final day hat trick against Manchester United, helped his side to an 8th place finish.
The real test will be whether he can adapt to Chelsea‘s style of play and cope with spending time on the bench as part of a squad rotation policy, which he definitely didn’t have to deal with as part of Steve Clarke’s team. Chelsea fans will probably be dreaming about Hazard, Mata and Oscar providing the ammunition for him to finish and I believe that he deserves the chance. However, the new manager may wish to add a star striker to the squad and Edinson Cavani and Falcao have already been mentioned as possible recruits. Will he need to leave again in order to find regular football or will this campaign have cemented his starting eleven position?