A lot has changed for Romelu Lukaku since the last time he pulled on a Chelsea shirt as a 20-year-old back in 2013.
He has played for three clubs in two countries, cost a total of almost £300m, scored 193 club goals and become Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer.
His 24 Serie A goals – and 11 assists – last season helped Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan to their first title in 11 years.
But why have Chelsea broken their own transfer record to lure the 28-year-old back to Stamford Bridge? And is he the man to help bring the Premier League title back to the European champions for the first time since 2017?
Chelsea had the second-best defensive record in the Premier League last season – with 36 goals conceded to Manchester City’s 32. But they had the best record by far, from the moment Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in January.
They only let in 13 goals in their final 19 Premier League games – and 16 in 31 games in all competitions under the German.
Their goalscoring was the big issue. Jorginho was their top league scorer with seven goals – all penalties. That made him the Blues’ lowest-scoring top scorer in a top-flight campaign since 1974-75.
In all competitions Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner, last year’s big-money striker signing, were joint top scorers with 12.
Chelsea’s 58 Premier League goals were 25 fewer than champions City and seven teams scored more than the Blues.
In terms of expected goals, the Opta metric – that judges how many you should score from chances – showed only City and Liverpool ranked above Chelsea’s 62.92.
Werner’s 11.45 xG was the 15th highest in the Premier League – but 49 players scored more than his six goals.
Despite that Chelsea still beat Manchester City all three times they met after Tuchel’s appointment – including in the Champions League final – so how far could they go with a proven scorer?
Sutton added: “If there was a criticism of Chelsea last season, it was that they possibly weren’t ruthless enough and now they have a guy in who is an absolute glutton for goals.
“If Kane goes to Manchester City I would fancy them for the title but, if he doesn’t, then Lukaku going to Chelsea could make the difference for them. I really think they could nick it.”
Nevin said: “The depth Chelsea have got in their squad is scary, even before Lukaku arrived.
“I am not sure he will play every single game, which seems odd for a guy who is costing that much money, and I am intrigued to see if he fits in style-wise with what Tuchel wants, because he wants work-rate.
“But then Tuchel has experience dealing with Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe at PSG, so he knows how to deal with the big stars and to get that out of them.”
