Chelsea are on the verge of signing Inter striker Romelu Lukaku for an almost league record-breaking €115million. Lukaku is undoubtely in the top 5 strikers in world football at the moment and shone under Conte in his 2 seasons in Milan, scoring 47 goals in 72 appearances.
In a time where a holding midfielder was our league top goalscorer last season, Chelsea are obviously crying out for a solid and reliable number 9. Since the departure of Diego Costa the club have had limited success with the likes of Morata and Higuain. Abraham and Giroud have both had spells of fine form, especially under Lampard, but now are likely to move on, with Giroud already departing to AC Milan and Abraham looking for a move away, potentially also to Italy.
Timo Werner ended last season as the clubs joint top goalscorer in all competitions, tied with Abraham on 14 goals each. Though it's no surprise that Werner has had chances to score even more, but looks slightly hit or miss in front of goal. Kai Havertz has shone under Tuchel since he came in, but he is far from a traditional striker, which is undoubetly what Chelsea require to improve further.
The arrival of Romelu Lukaku is incredibly exciting for me as well as a lot of Chelsea fans. The prolific number 9 who has openly confessed his love for the club, and confesses that Drogba is his idol; growing up with a poster of him on his wall. We signed Lukaku first 10 years ago, but he never really found his way into the team, playing with the reserves, even refusing to hold the Champions League trophy in Munich as he felt he had no involvement in the final.
After that, he had successful loan moves to West Brom and Everton before signing permanently for Everton in 2014. It was his success at Everton which landed him the move to Manchester United and a reunion with Jose Mourinho in 2017, before he was let go in 2019 and linked up with Conte in Inter, who finally got his man after repeated attempts to sign him while at Chelsea in 2017.
It's very much a welcome return too, Chelsea fans and Lukaku will feel that this is a second chance at Chelsea, and I'm confident this time Lukaku will fit in much better.
Looking at his strengths (credit @ExpectedChelsea on twitter) Lukaku is essentially the complete deal. Saving maybe his shot quantity, he looks strong in all aspects of the attacking game. As a tall and dominant striker, he's often deployed in a traditional 9 role as the target man, and can use his expert ball control to win long balls, to play to teammates or turn and run on his own. His proven goalscoring technique which led to his success in the Premier League is demonstrated in this Soccer AM video from years ago:
It's essentially Lukaku saying, if a defender gets in too close to him to challenge, they're essentially in trouble, as he has the explosive power to quickly turn and then get a shot away. And we've seen this several times, almost becoming one of the striker's trademark skills.
At United under Mourinho Lukaku wasn't as explosive or goal prolific, as he was deployed as a target man who would battle with the centre backs to head down balls for on runners. You'd rarely see him making strong runs, especially in the 2018/19 he looked like he was lacking confidence. Although he was still scoring
At Inter, and especially within Conte's system, is where Lukaku began to regain his form. In the 3-5-2 Lukaku was the counterpart to the skilful Martinez, who was quick to press and was also a great dribbler of the ball. He made the spaces for Lukaku and also took on a Werner-like role of dragging defenders and giving him room to sprint and shoot.
In a way, us missing out on Haaland and turning to Lukaku may turn out much better. Haaland is one of the best talents in the game right now, and he'll undoubetly grow into the next star player, whereever he ends up after Dortmund. But at the moment, with Dortmund uneager to sell unless for a 'crazy' amount, and wages most likely being higher than we can handle and account for, it wouldn't be the best move. Furthermore Haaland would be another young attacker in our Chelsea team, which would mean a lack of experience in that position.
Lukaku on the other hand has Premier League experience at Chelsea, United, West Brom and Everton, and at 28, is very much in his prime. Not too young and inexperienced, but at the same time not at a stage where he may show signs of decline. He'll prove a useful figure to our young attackers and gives us that needed experience that disappeared when Giroud left the club. Not only that, but you can guarantee Romelu will fit right in and have a no-nonsense and respectful attitude towards Chelsea. At just under £100m he costs more than half of what we most likely would have payed for Erling Haaland, and his wages are perfectly manageable as well; not causing any dilemmas within the club.
I also hope we implement Lukaku in a strong enough way so that other attackers can play off of him and benefit as a result. It's reminiscent of the Hazard-Costa and Pedro/Willian front three we had under Conte, and it's the first time we're really getting a Costa-like striker at Chelsea again. It opens the door for players like Werner to get into much better goal scoring oppurtunties, and if he starts getting on the scoresheet again (he scored a really nice goal in pre-season that was incorrectly ruled out) it'll do bits for his confidence.
There is always the possibility Lukaku may struggle with some aspects; Tuchel may want Lukaku to press the opposition off the ball, which is something Lukaku isn't really known for. Going back to his strengths chart as well, Lukaku's shot quantity is one of the lowest among Europe's top strikers, though this may be as a result of the Inter system and how Conte plays. I'm sure Tuchel will urge Rom to shoot as often as he can, even if the shots don't result in goals, and I don't think there'll be a confidence issue either, unlike with Werner. Many have also criticized his aerial threat, despite the fact he scored plenty of aerial goals in the Premier League. He's the only player to score at least 20 goals with his left foot, right foot, and his head, so I have no worries there either.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with this signing. I'm overjoyed that we're making smart signings and making good buisness in the transfer window so far. With Rom slotting in at striker we have a very strong and capable team on our hands, and potentially a title winning one.