One of the most prolific strikers in European football, Romelu Lukaku returned to Chelsea on Thursday for a reported club-record fee of £97 million ($135 million) from Inter Milan, seven years after his first spell at Stamford Bridge came to an end.
The Belgian has signed a five-year contract and will add attacking firepower to Thomas Tuchel’s squad of European champions.
He left Chelsea to join Everton in 2014 but has now gone back to the London club in a deal just short of the £100m British record fee Manchester City has just paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish.
It means clubs have spent more money on Lukaku than any other player in history with a combined total of around £290m having being forked out for the Belgium international.
“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 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.”
Lukaku was instrumental in securing Inter’s first Serie A title for 11 years last season, but the Italian giants financial problems forced them into selling their prized asset to the Premier League side. He scored 64 goals in two seasons in Italy to quickly become a hero at the San Siro.
But Lukaku also has a proven record in the Premier League, scoring 113 goals during spells with Manchester United, Everton, and West Bromwich Albion.
“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,” added Lukaku. “I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.”
After lifting the Champions League last season, Chelsea is hoping Lukaku is the final piece required to make Thomas Tuchel’s side Premier League title challengers.
“Lukaku is quite simply one of the world’s best strikers and goalscorers,” said Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia. “We are absolutely delighted to be bringing him back to the club he loves, and are excited to be adding his talent to our Champions League-winning squad.
“We are of course looking to build on last season’s success, and Lukaku will play a big role in achieving our targets.”
A formidable forward who is equally adept at holding the ball up with his back to goal as well as running into channels with purpose and intent, Lukaku has eight years of Premier League experience under his belt. During that time, he scored 113 goals in the division, taking him up to 20th place on the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers.
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