Mixed feelings about Lukaku’s signing

We’ve all heard the news by now, Romelu Lukaku is a Chelsea player. I have to say I’m pleased with his signing, but yet have mixed feelings about his arrival, and I’ll explain why in a bit. First let’s look at what Lukaku could bring to the Chelsea squad.


Lukaku has been a prolific goal scorer for Anderlecht, having contributed an impressive 41 goals and 14 assists in 98 appearances for the Belgian club. He is gifted with outstanding physical attributes, stands tall and strong, yet manages to move at a blistering pace. Looking at these characteristics, any team or fan would be foolish not to get somewhat excited over this player. I am indeed excited about Lukaku. He will bring more speed and goal threat to Chelsea’s forward line, and could gradually learn to step into Didier Drogba’s shoes once the big Ivorian retires or leaves the club.


Another positive factor is that Lukaku’s long time dream has been to play for Chelsea. For that reason, you can expect him to be committed and give 100% to the club. Contrary to some analysts, I don’t see him as surplus in the squad. Chelsea has a lot of strikers in the roster, but only 2 real center forwards, in Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres. Based on pre-season matches, AVB seems keen on playing a combination of Malouda, Anelka, Kalou, Sturridge on the flanks, and deploying either Drogba or Torres as lone striker down the middle.  As he himself accurately pointed out, this means Lukaku will be 3rd choice striker, and I expect him to get a decent amount of game time in his first season, knowing that Chelsea will be involved in 4 major tournaments.


All that being said, here is why I have mixed feelings about his signing. Lukaku will be a great squad player this season, and has the potential to become a world-class striker for many years to come. However, he does not address the clear current deficiencies in the squad. Chelsea’s squad has been lacking creativity both in midfield and upfront since Robben’s departure. No need to be a football expert to realize that.  Early signs from the transfer market were positive as we were linked with players like Pastore, Sanchez, Neymar, Aguero, Modric and Hazard. This kind of players would have addressed the current blatant lack of pace and creativity within the squad. Instead, the club has bolstered an area that is not the most deficient right now. From what I have seen, Lukaku is not a very technical striker. To give an illustration, he is much more Andy Carrol than Luis Suarez, and what we need right now is our own Luis Suarez !!!

For our strikers to bang goals in, they need appropriate service. Players like Torres don’t become bad overnight, they need  teammates able to play the killer pass to them. Fortunately, the transfer market is still open for another 20 days or so, and I hope that before it closes, Chelsea brings in at least 1 creative and tricky forward, with the ability to play on either flank or as a support striker, along with a playmaker. Anybody who’s read any of my previous articles would know that I thought Aguero was a perfect match for that role, but now that he’s gone, I think Eden Hazard could be the man for the job, very much like David Silva does for City, and Nasri for Arsenal. These are all players capable of playing on either wing, behind a striker, or through central midfield. As for the playmaker role, Sneijder would have been my number 1 choice, and Pastore 2nd. However, with neither of them likely to move to the Bridge, Modric becomes my obvious choice.

Let’s hope somebody at the club is working hard to make these deals happen.

By Soccercrave

Follow me on twitter @soccercrave
Email: soccercrave@gmail.com

6 thoughts on “Mixed feelings about Lukaku’s signing”

  1. Thank you that is exactly what I was trying to say though I would prefer Moutinho for MF creativity. Eden Hazard has the pace and the ability to make killer passes. I would love Chelsea to line up like this in couple of years(3years):
    Courtois(22)
    Luiz(27)–Rajkovic(25)—Ivanovic(30)—PVA
    Piazon(21)—Romeu(23)—McEachran(21)
    Sturridge(25)—Lukaku(21)—Hazard(23)

    That is 5 home grown players from Rajko, PVA, Piazon,McEachran. On top of Kalas, Chalobah, Lalkovic…

  2. Couldn't agree more with you! Exactly what I was thinking, but unfortunately I believe our board and AVB obviously don't think the same. AVB thinks he is some kind of God who can transform players. Let me tell you something AVB, you can't just give pace and trickery to a guy who's, I don't know, 30 years and doesn't posses such qualities. I fear for Chelsea if we don't add to the squad as you mentioned above. Hazard for starters would be perfect! And Lukaku and Courtois can convince him as they are all Belgiums. I personally would buy Pato)(left side of attack- sell Kalou(possibly in exchange to Milan), Hazard(right wing) – sell Anelka and a playmaker in the mould of Modric or Moutinho(we've already freed up that foreigner spot with the sale of Zhirkov. Anelka and Kalou are both in the last year of their contracts and I think it's only logical to sell them now and replace them with world class wingers as we NEED them. I've been feeling pessimistic all summer long, I can only hope that these remaining 20 days will change my stance.

  3. I really like your lineup Chelseaphan!!
    Though I would keep Luiz as CB. He made some bad mistakes last season, but again he just joined in January from Portugal and surely needs more time to adapt. With more play time in the EPL he will develop into a world class CB, and give an extra dimension to Chelsea by building the attack from the back. He will help our possession game tremendously like Thiago Silva does for Milan, Pique for Barca and Carvalho used to do for us. Other than that, I really like your lineup.

  4. We agree Klemen. Except Moutinho is not really that creative, he is more like Ramires, a box to box midfielder. We need a playmaker like Modric, Pastore (too bad we missed out on him) or my favorite, Sneijder.
    I hope AVB is working quietly on a deal to prove us both wrong 🙂

  5. Is it just assumed that Snejder really wants to go to Manu or that he dislikes Chelsea (or the Chelsea staff dislikes him). It sounds like he can be had, for abou the price that is spoken of for Modric. Why aren't Chelsea considering him you think? I really don't like the idea of Manu with Snejder very much. I agree in other thoughts of yours, it's frustrating that he don't have a speedy option for one of the outside FW spots and I can only hope they have their sights set on a good playmaker type to set up the Front 3.

  6. I think that Sneijder is liked by the Chelsea staff, just about any team in the world would like to have him. 2 Problems with him: 1) His wages – any team that gets him would have to pay at least 200K/week to match what he is currently making after tax in Italy.
    2) He has reiterated his admiration for United several times already, and he is kind of old school player who has won everything at the club level. He will fancy joining a club that has lots of history, and let's face it United have more history than we do.
    Players like Lukaku, Neymar, and co don't have that pb, because they grew up in an era where Chelsea has been successful for a while, and one of the top spending teams in Europe, always attracting top names, managers, etc.
    Sneijder is a little older and has more respect for United and having played for the best team in Holland, best team in Spain(Real was the best team in Spain when he was there), the best team in Italy, he'd like a shot at playing for what he certainly sees as the best team in England. He would make United the complete package though if he went there. I really hope that Chelsea gets more creative reinforcements as well, because the current squad would not be able to beat that United team to the title if he joined them.

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