Chelsea brought in Romelu Lukaku so they have an out-and-out goalscorer in their side but the forward has now gone six games without a goal(at the time of writing this).
The Belgian international has so far netted three goals in the Premier League but his last one came against Aston Villa at the beginning of last month. He’s not found the back of the net in his previous four league matches and now slowly the pundits are starting to question Lukaku’s abilities.
West Ham United legend Paolo Di Canio is one of those who has recently come out to label Romelu Lukaku a dull and a functional player.
‘I heard [Inter icon turned pundit Giuseppe] Bergomi comparing [Victor] Osimhen and Lukaku. But Osimhen has a different spirit, he’s not dull like him,’ Di Canio told Sky Sports Italia, as quoted.
‘When the difficulty increased he scored no goals in five games with Chelsea. And it’s not Chelsea’s fault, they are top of the table even without his goals.
‘Lukaku does not score. Lukaku is a functional player, just as [Fernando] Llorente was in Antonio Conte’s Juventus.
‘Even if Lukaku is stronger than Llorente, Lukaku is still functional to a certain type of game.’
Will Romelu Lukaku turn out to be a flop at Chelsea?
At Inter Milan, Lukaku was scoring goals for fun(scoring 24 goals in 36 league matches) but this is the Premier League we are talking about. And this is not the first time the forward’s facing such an issue.
Even when he was at Manchester United, the 28-year-old would go missing against the big sides and now at Chelsea, we are seeing a repeat of the same.
Thomas Tuchel on Romelu Lukaku goal drought. pic.twitter.com/nTlmja2HO8
— Frank Khalid OBE (@FrankKhalidUK) October 19, 2021
Romelu Lukaku has netted vs teams like Villa and Zenit but he’s failed to deliver against bigger sides like Spurs, Man City and Juventus.
His price tag means Thomas Tuchel will not push him to the bench very easily but the Chelsea boss is one the more ruthless managers around so if Lukaku cannot pull up his socks soon enough, Tuchel will start looking towards his bench.
Players like Mount, Pulisic and Kai Havertz all have the ability to play up front with Timo Werner so if Romelu Lukaku cannot deliver what he was signed for, the Blues manager will not hesitate to shun him to the bench.
