For whatever reason, Everton’s Romelu Lukaku keeps on talking about his time at Chelsea FC. He was asked once again during the international break and he reiterated that it was his desire for first team football that convinced him to make the move away from Stamford Bridge. It is almost as if he has to justify the move to himself because he may be doubting it.
More from Chelsea FC News
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 1 Blue Mauricio Pochettino should drop
- Bournemouth vs Chelsea: 3 Blues who must start
- Predicted Chelsea lineup vs Bournemouth: Palmer starts in 4-2-3-1
- Chelsea sporting directors finally reveal why they sign so many young players
- These 3 new signings may never get a game at Chelsea
Romelu Lukaku came to Stamford Bridge with a tremendous amount of fanfare. He was not a big name signing like Eden Hazard or Cesc Fabregas, but he was labeled the next Didier Drogba before he even pulled on the shirt and was expected to come good for Chelsea FC in the long run. Lukaku joined Chelsea when the club had a surplus of strikers.
Names like Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres, and Daniel Sturridge were ahead of him on the depth chart and he was unahppy about that right away. He was tucked away and largely unused by Andres Villas-Boas and was altogether forgotten by Roberto Di Matteo. Rather than send him out on loan, Romelu Lukaku was kept on the squad and grew frustrated on the bench.
"“Chelsea was difficult because I’d always been a first-team player at my other clubs. At 16 I went into the Anderlecht side, the best team in Belgium. I had my chance and I took it. I was top scorer there and we won the league and I then scored even more. When I went to Chelsea I knew it would be hard but I proved in some games I deserved a chance.At some point you have to make the decision: ‘Do you want to be a squad member or do you want to build your career?’. Everton play good football, we play at the top part of the league and everyone wants to win. We want to show that last year wasn’t a fluke. Our mission is to get that Champions League slot because it was in our hands last season and we let it slip.”Source: Daily Star"
Most players who claim to love a club would have taken that frustration and used it as motivation. Romelu Lukaku chose to take it as a personal slight and after two good seasons on loan in the Premier League, decided he was too good to fight for his place in the Chelsea starting eleven. He found a shoulder to cry on in Roberto Martinez and rather than work hard for the club he supposedly loved so much he chose the easy way out.
Make no mistake about it, Everton is a fine club with top-flight pedigree but it is nowhere near the club that Chelsea is. Playing under pressure at Chelsea has broken better and stronger players than Romelu Lukaku but he chose to stay in his Merseyside comfort zone.
Follow us on Twitter at @PrideOLondon
Like us on Facebook at The Pride of London