Has Lukaku improved since he left Chelsea seven years ago?

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 12 Aug 2021 19:42 BST
• 6 min read

Romelu Lukaku believes he has changed a lot since he first made the move to Chelsea as a young player.

Prior to a successful stint in Italy at Serie A giants Inter and spells in England at Manchester United and Inter, Lukau was a young player at Chelsea.

However, despite a perfectly decent record, Lukaku was eventually deemed surplus to requirement at Stamford Bridge and eventually sold after a few loan spells elsewhere.

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Now, back at Chelsea after completing a £97.7 million transfer to the club, the towering striker believes he has changed as a player.

’It’s been a long journey for me’

“I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club,’ said Lukaku. ‘It’s been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.

“The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.

“The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A. I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together.

“Since I left Chelsea, it’s been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but these experiences made me strong and the challenge is to try to help the team win some more trophies. I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.”

Has Lukaku improved since he left Chelsea?

A quick look at Lukaku’s goals and assists per 90 minutes over the course of his career undoubtedly suggests that the player’s ability to score and create goals has varied at different clubs and periods of his career.

For example, Lukaku undoubtedly made the most of his loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Everton when he was a Chelsea player and then had a perfectly impressive average during his three seasons at the Merseyside club.

Where the striker’s strike rate took a notable nosedive was when he made the move to Manchester United, with his second season at Old Trafford proving to be the worst of his career.

However, like all great players, Lukaku bounced back with a smart move to Inter and in the Italian top-flight he managed to pick up his two most impressive returns in terms of goals and assists.

Whether or not the Belgium international will be able to repeat those averages at Chelsea remains to be seen, but he’s certainly coming off the back of his best ever campaign and looks far better than he did when he was a young talent at Stamford Bridge.