Chelsea has officially announced the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan. The Belgian striker made his return to Stamford Bridge after 7 years in a club-record fee of £97.5 million. This transfer was was also the biggest ever sale made in Serie A.
Earlier this month, Manchester City had broken the British transfer record when they signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100 million. Chelsea’s bid for Lukaku was rumoured to break the record yet again, however, it fell short by just a few million. With this move, the Belgian also became the most expensive player in football history in terms of combined transfer fees which stands at £289 million.
Romelu Lukaku Returns to Stamford Bridge
Lukaku is Back at Chelsea After Signing For Them a Decade Ago
Chelsea had signed an 18-year-old prospect back in 2011 for a fee of £17 million from Anderlecht. It was going to be a tough start for him there as the club already had world-class strikers. After making only 15 appearances in two years without scoring a single goal, he was sent out on loan to West Bromwich Albion.
He became an instant success there and was on a goalscoring run. He had outscored all his Chelsea teammates that season. Upon returning, he joined Everton for another spell. A brilliant season with the Toffees saw them make the deal permanent for the club’s then-record fee of £28 million.
The next three years with Everton has been termed extraordinary for a striker of his age. With a minimum of 20 goals a season, his tally at the time of departure stood at 87 goals in 166 games. Manchester United then signed him as the replacement for the departing Wayne Rooney.
His initial year was a great success as he scored 27 goals. However, he fell out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who replaced Jose Mourinho the next season. After leaving Old Trafford, he had mentioned that the club used him as their scapegoat along with Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.
He then joined Inter Milan for a club-record fee. Lukaku once again became a fearsome striker and competed against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. That season, he recorded his best-ever tally of 34 goals in a season, equalling the record held by Ronaldo in 1997/98.
The next season, his pivotal partnership alongside Lautaro Martinez helped Inter win their first-ever Serie A title in 10 years, dethroning Juventus. Lukaku had no plans of leaving. But when his old club came calling, he requested them to accept if a reasonable bid was made.
Chelsea Are Not Holding Back On Transfers
One would have never thought a two-year transfer ban would result in this wild scenario. Last season, under Frank Lampard, the club spent over £200 million on new players. This would have been easy to digest had the finances in the football world were not affected by the pandemic.
However, those signing proved to be helpful for the following manager who won the Champions League as well as the Super Cup. This year, they broke their transfer record when they resigned Romelu Lukaku from Inter.
Under Thomas Tuchel, the club went on to become defensive supremacy. They were hardly conceding any goals. And when they did, it was usually by a goal. Having said that, the only area they lacked was the forward. Last summer’s big-money signing, Timo Werner failed to live up to his Bundesliga mark.
Now, with the addition of the 28-year-old prolific striker, Werner can adapt and Chelsea can finally make justice to that incredible defence, hence making the perfect team. And with their rivals equally equipped, we are in for one of the best Premier League seasons.
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