🇧🇪 Romelu Lukaku

[Toli 977]

It's amazing how a club like Man City can have four top class strikers but still manage to make all of them content. All four of them better than Lukaku. I know Pellegrini plays with two strikers but still he can only play with two at a time. We shouldn't have problems with having multiple quality options to play as a striker. Costa will certainly be our best striker next season but I don't like how the tag "second" striker is placed on the next guy. Dzeko for instance started the season as Man City's third striker but began to outperform Negredo and became second choice and a starting XI partner to Aguero. At the end of the day every player still has to prove himself to the manager from scratch.

This is what vexes me about the Lukaku thing. Of course we won't know for sure what happened behind closed doors till leaves. There was a rumour that the club never contacted him even once during his second spell at Everton. Then he says this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2646047/Romelu-Lukaku-insists-wants-stay-Chelsea-despite-uncertainty.html

It's either the kid is bi-polar or the club are trying to force him out of the club for whatever reason.

City are playing with 2 strikers while we are playing with one. thats the difference. they have 2 strikers per position...thats not much. we have 3 for 1 (if lukaku stays). Also Dzeko did want to leave City at a time and only due to Negredos bad shape he came back in to the sheet..otherwise he would have left them by now. And Jovetic isnt happy neither. And Negredo still might be sold.

@Viper trust in your own brain. You dont have to be a genius to know that with Drogba, Torres and Costa we are literally going in to the season with 1!!! good striker. Torres is shit and we know this...nothing new. Mou basically admitted it by himself during last season. Drogba is way past his prime. If you think that going with 1 striker in to a season with 50+ matches (if everything goes well) is enough, than you can forget about it.

[Pizy 18,907]

Lukaku has said numerous times that he's modeling himself after Rooney or CR7 and wants to be the main man and undisputed, first choice striker. Even if he's told that he'd get plenty of playing time here that just doesn't seem enough to satisfy him.

[Madmax 9,219]

Is he no.2 though? He should be but will he? Maybe not because there is still Torres

Well you have to hope and expect so, I suppose, because then the only justification that's left open for not playing him is that he's bowing to some sort of pressure from above to play Torres or that he has something personal against Lukaku. You'd have to count those two situations out because a) he's already shown what he thinks about Torres by playing Ba ahead of him and b ) because people like Mourinho don't get to the top of their profession by holding such petty grudges.

[The only place to be 11,313]

It's amazing how a club like Man City can have four top class strikers but still manage to make all of them content.

How many matches did Aguero and Jovetic miss through injury?

Jovetic had an injury in pre-season and hamstring and calf problems throughout. Aguero had a calf injury in December and the calf and hamstring problems right up to the World Cup.

Hard to moan about not playing when you're in the physio room.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Is he no.2 though? He should be

Um, why? What has Lukaku actually done in a Chelsea shirt?

He should definitely get a chance to fight for a spot, and HE GOT THAT LAST YEAR BUT ASKED TO LEAVE.

One more time for the people asleep at the back of the class.

HE RECEIVED A CHANCE AT THIS CLUB AND ASKED TO LEAVE.

Now someone convince me that Jose will respect that attitude. That's Jose Mourinho. This guy

[Stats 7,142]

Um, why? What has Lukaku actually done in a Chelsea shirt?

He should definitely get a chance to fight for a spot, and HE GOT THAT LAST YEAR BUT ASKED TO LEAVE.

One more time for the people asleep at the back of the class.

HE RECEIVED A CHANCE AT THIS CLUB AND ASKED TO LEAVE.

Now someone convince me that Jose will respect that attitude. That's Jose Mourinho. This guy

He should be 2nd choice standard. He has earned that chance at least. It is ridiculous to say otherwise. We keep going back and forwards with this "he got a chance" and "he never got a chance" thing but simple thing is he scored goals again last season and now we have Costa, Lukaku should be 2nd choice striker. Simple. Why shouldnt he be second choice striker? He is better than Torres and proved he is capable of scoring goals. Costa as our no.1 striker and Lukaku as no.2 would be excellent.

Also I will make my point firm on this. You say he asked to leave. I say Mourinho let him leave. He is the manager and he made the decision. Mourinho is manager end of the day right?

[The only place to be 11,313]

He should be 2nd choice standard. He has earned that chance at least. It is ridiculous to say otherwise. We keep going back and forwards with this "he got a chance" and "he never got a chance" thing but simple thing is he scored goals again last season and now we have Costa, Lukaku should be 2nd choice striker. Simple. Why shouldnt he be second choice striker? He is better than Torres and proved he is capable of scoring goals. Costa as our no.1 striker and Lukaku as no.2 would be excellent.

Also I will make my point firm on this. You say he asked to leave. I say Mourinho let him leave. He is the manager and he made the decision. Mourinho is manager end of the day right?

He's earned a chance to fight for a spot here. That's it. In fact he had that chance last season and received chances but then asked to leave.

Lukaku has not proven anything at this club yet. All he's shown is that he can score 15 goals at a mid-table club. Great.

So did Demba Ba.

So did Grant Holt.

So did Clint Dempsey.

So did DJ Campbell.

So did Peter Odemwingie.

So did Darren Bent.

So did Gabriel Agbonlahor.

So did Kevin Davies.

So did Benjani.

So did Mark Viduka.

So did Marlon Harewood.

So did Juan Pablo Angel.

So did Yakubu.

Your firm point makes no sense because I'm not disputing Mourinho let him leave. Mourinho would probably let any player who requested a transfer in the bitch fashion Lukaku did leave. Do you know why?

Because quitting like that is a bitch move. Can you name one other player who Mourinho has kept around after he requested a transfer because there was too much competition for his spot?

[The Skipper 20,609]

and where did u get to know that he wants to go? did u talk to him personally? as far i know, just yesterday or something he changed his bio to chelsea.

i would rather look at the betterment of the club as this season is vital. us not winning the PL would be considered a failure. another trophy less season will definitely mean jose getting the boot and making us go back to the managerial merry-go-round.

and what power are u talking about? if u actually "believe" that he wants to leave, then we are keeping him against his "wish". where are we giving lukaku the power?

Have you just been turning a blind eye to what he's been saying over the last few weeks? He said it himself mate. Have you completely ignored this? People are not imagining things when they say Romelu wants to leave.

He said this just before the WC:

"You know Chelsea: every year they buy a new top striker," he said.

"I remember me coming into the dressing room last year and seeing Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba and going: 'Whoah! What's happening here?'

"But no problem. Many clubs are interested in me and at this stage I have to look to myself.

"I have to play a good World Cup. That's very interesting for all the players looking for a transfer, and I must be one of them. Chelsea know my point of view."

Right there from the horses mouth.

And also, I don't know why you are trying to reinforce to me that Lukaku would be useful to us. I've said countless of times in this thread that ideally, Romelu would be great as our number two option - but the problem clearly is that he wants to go. I feel like I'm repeating myself because you just won't accept that.

I find it incredible how anyone would think that selling Lukaku can somehow lead to Jose getting sacked? How does selling Romelu even equal to us definitely not winning the PL? How did you even come up with that hypothesis? Ifs and buts... I can equally say to you, what if Diego Costa scores 10 goals in his first 5 games and stays completely injury free and on form for the whole season thus severely limiting Romelu's overall chances... Do you think Romelu will be happy with that and think, "Yeah, let me sign a new contract now"? That's just a naive way of thinking about it.

I'm repeating myself - but you know what would be for the betterment of the club? Selling a player that doesn't want to be here at the right time, instead of running his contract down to one year thus severely reducing his value and leaving all the power in the players hands. Then use that money to reinvest into someone who does want to be here. Simple.

I don't think you'll ever see it that way though.

[Peace. 4,352]

We don't need the money... So we should let Lukaku walk for like £10m next season?

I have always thought that this argument of "we do not need the money" is pretty simpleton. I mean, if we do not need money, then we should call back Paris in order to partially refund them, because we do not really need these 50m euros ; etc... It is like when people proudly say "we do not sell our best players because we do not need money bla bla bla" — we did not think a second before selling Mata and Luiz.

It can also be applied to rich people. They do no longer need to earn money, yet they take it... It is like this that you become wealthy. And, if tomorrow i tell you "here's the deal, I give you 200 bucks today or 100 next day, what do you choose ?" — your answer will be pretty obvious. I could give just out of my head another twenty examples, but I guess I do not need to go there.

——————————

And anyway. As you say, he pretty much wants to leave our club — and before someone ask if we have talked to him to know such a thing : you do not need to be Noam Chomsky to understand that when a player start to publicly say "clubs are interested in me" (in the fashion he did), it means that at the very least he considers to go elsewhere.

So, with that knowledge, the best thing for us is to look to get the more money out of him. It is not like we desperately need him and thus should say goodbye to a huge amount of money, let's say like Dortmund with the Polish.

[LAB 1,030]

You guys make it such a big deal. Mourinho will simply not tolerate that behaviour. He can go play the star striker wherever the hell he wants just as we cash in the max possible amount of money right now.

[Diego Kwsta 96]

I'm not suggesting we have four strikers ourselves. We can have three like last season. My point is that Lukaku's whining has created this misconceived notion that Diego Costa is going to play every game and that the next guy is a no-hoper who is relegated to the "second" striker status, which is untrue. My other point was that if our board falls for that and we start the season with a strike force of Costa, Torres and 36 year old player/coach Drogba, we will struggle to achieve our goals, despite our other signings. We definitely need a forward of the level of a Firmino or Lavezzi to come in to replace Lukaku.

I get your point..What I'm saying it's that it's difficult to have so many good players for 1 position.

Well it is true that Costa will be the number one guy and everybody knows that,you need to feel the essence of the transfer.Everybody else will be second choice.

Also Im not sure that Lavezzi is as good a striker as he is a winger/inside forward....And Firmino???Really???

[The Mak 4,459]

and where did u get to know that he wants to go? did u talk to him personally? as far i know, just yesterday or something he changed his bio to chelsea.

i would rather look at the betterment of the club as this season is vital. us not winning the PL would be considered a failure. another trophy less season will definitely mean jose getting the boot and making us go back to the managerial merry-go-round.

and what power are u talking about? if u actually "believe" that he wants to leave, then we are keeping him against his "wish". where are we giving lukaku the power?

I've noticed a theme to your posts. You like to question things, that's fine. But a post such as this is simply either:

A. Questioning something while actually being completely ignorant of the realities of the situation.

or

B. Questioning something just for the sake of questioning something in a vain attempt to be different/controversial.

You can't deny that it is very clear from what Lukaku has said to the media that he isn't 100% happy here and seems to have a sense of entitlement. And that's fine, as long as it is kept private. However, going to the media to air his grievances like he has done so many times is basically a death sentence under Mourinho.

Therefore, the 'betterment of the club' this season, as you say, is to not have a single 'bad apple' in the group (especially in the eyes of the manager). The manager needs to be 100% sure that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Mourinho cannot be sure with Lukaku, so unless we see a miraculous change in attitude (accepting his position as no.2 and maybe signing a new contract to that effect) the best thing 'for the club' is to move him on for the biggest price possible, as soon as possible.

[didierforever 7,349]

Have you just been turning a blind eye to what he's been saying over the last few weeks? He said it himself mate. Have you completely ignored this? People are not imagining things when they say Romelu wants to leave.

He said this just before the WC:

Right there from the horses mouth.

And also, I don't know why you are trying to reinforce to me that Lukaku would be useful to us. I've said countless of times in this thread that ideally, Romelu would be great as our number two option - but the problem clearly is that he wants to go. I feel like I'm repeating myself because you just won't accept that.

I find it incredible how anyone would think that selling Lukaku can somehow lead to Jose getting sacked? How does selling Romelu even equal to us definitely not winning the PL? How did you even come up with that hypothesis? Ifs and buts... I can equally say to you, what if Diego Costa scores 10 goals in his first 5 games and stays completely injury free and on form for the whole season thus severely limiting Romelu's overall chances... Do you think Romelu will be happy with that and think, "Yeah, let me sign a new contract now"? That's just a naive way of thinking about it.

I'm repeating myself - but you know what would be for the betterment of the club? Selling a player that doesn't want to be here at the right time, instead of running his contract down to one year thus severely reducing his value and leaving all the power in the players hands. Then use that money to reinvest into someone who does want to be here. Simple.

I don't think you'll ever see it that way though.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2646047/Romelu-Lukaku-insists-wants-stay-Chelsea-despite-uncertainty.html

how strange!!! he evsaid that he wants to stay!!! and then he goes and changes his twitter bio just YESTERDAY!!!! he said this on 2nd june... right before the WC started.. right from the horses MOUTH!!!!

how anyone thinks that lukaku being sold CAN lead to jose has already being described. lukaku selling equals to us having torres and DD/remy/emenike/bamford as the 2nd striker. that is equal to us STILL having the striker problems. every striker goes thru a lean spell as will costa at some point of the season. at that time, we wont have a good back-up just like last season and then drop points, just like last season. you go into the season thinking of REALISTIC situation. costa scoring 10 goals in 5 games is not a situation JOSE would be expecting or getting us prepared from. for a season we will ATLEAST 2 goalscorers (plus torres). thats a realistic situation.

tell me who wants to be here and who u would buy with that money and how exactly will be better for us? remmy? eminike? who exactly are we talking about? who would be our 2nd striker? SAF kept CR against his will, he ended up winning them the PL! sometimes u have to make exceptions and this definitely is one of those times. its easy saying SIMPLE. but its not fifa where a player says "i want to leave" and u transfer list. right now, the better thing for the club to do will be taking a risk with a 21 year old lukaku, if it pays off, we have a striker for the next 10 years, if not, we can buy some decent back-up striker next year rather than making the same mistake we made with BA.

[didierforever 7,349]

I've noticed a theme to your posts. You like to question things, that's fine. But a post such as this is simply either:

A. Questioning something while being completely ignorant of the realities of the situation.

or

B. Questioning something just for the sake of questioning something in a vain attempt to be different/controversial.

You can't deny that it is very clear from what Lukaku has said to the media that he isn't 100% happy here and seems to have a sense of entitlement. And that's fine, as long as it is kept private. However, going to the media to air his grievances like he has done so many times is basically a death sentence under Mourinho.

Therefore, the 'betterment of the club' this season, as you say, is to not have a single 'bad apple' in the group (especially in the eyes of the manager). The manager needs to be 100% sure that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Mourinho cannot be sure with Lukaku, so unless we see a miraculous change in attitude (accepting his position as no.2) the best thing 'for the club' is to move him on for the biggest price possible, as soon as possible.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2646047/Romelu-Lukaku-insists-wants-stay-Chelsea-despite-uncertainty.html

and he goes and changes his twitter bio to chelsea just YESTERDAY.

now lets take the scenario of the "best thing for the club" from your perspective. we sell lukaku. for 25mil. YAY!! buy who? remy? emineke? or keep torres as our second striker? how does that solve our striker problems? or am i supposed to believe that costa will have a 25-30 goal season in his first season and everything will be just peachy? how does selling him improve us as a squad/team?

[xPetrCechx 13,570]

Everton closing in on a deal to sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/everton/10977699/Everton-closing-in-on-a-deal-to-sign-Romelu-Lukaku-from-Chelsea.html

Romelu Lukaku could rejoin Everton on permanent deal in the next 48 hours

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2697756/Romelu-Lukaku-rejoin-Everton-permanent-deal-48-hours.html#ixzz37v1wgSeY

Romelu Lukaku snubs Tottenham interest to agree surprise Everton transfer

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/19/romelu-lukaku-snubs-tottenham-interest-to-agree-surprise-everton-transfer-4803547/

[didierforever 7,349]

telegraph, dailymail and metro!!! not a word from bbc or sky!!! i get it!!

[Stats 7,142]

He's earned a chance to fight for a spot here. That's it. In fact he had that chance last season and received chances but then asked to leave.

Lukaku has not proven anything at this club yet. All he's shown is that he can score 15 goals at a mid-table club. Great.

So did Demba Ba.

So did Grant Holt.

So did Clint Dempsey.

So did DJ Campbell.

So did Peter Odemwingie.

So did Darren Bent.

So did Gabriel Agbonlahor.

So did Kevin Davies.

So did Benjani.

So did Mark Viduka.

So did Marlon Harewood.

So did Juan Pablo Angel.

So did Yakubu.

Your firm point makes no sense because I'm not disputing Mourinho let him leave. Mourinho would probably let any player who requested a transfer in the bitch fashion Lukaku did leave. Do you know why?

Because quitting like that is a bitch move. Can you name one other player who Mourinho has kept around after he requested a transfer because there was too much competition for his spot?

OK. I agree with the fact he wants to leave and why I think it would be a bad idea selling him I also see the other hand if he wants to leave and we want to get a lot of money before his value decreases but I don't agree with statements such as he "made a bitch move by quitting". Like yeah he could have stayed but he is ambitious and wanted to be starting every week. I just say that is a player who is eager to play football. I won't call him a coward or a bitch for that reason but yeah I agree if he stayed he probably would have got a lot of starts last season due to the inconsistencies of our strikers.

I mean look at pastures new. I know Mourinho would rather players who want to stay here but for the benefit of the club and perhaps even player I would rather Mourinho just come out and state he wants him as part of our squad next seson and he sees him playing a key role. That is the vote of confidence he needs. It might initially annoy him but once he realises he is playing for a team competing for major honours he might just acknowledge the position he is at.

I can't say for sure but some sources like the one I seen on this thread earlier state Lukaku never received any sort of call during his loan spell. He feels a bit outcasted imo not just because he feels he won't be no.1 but also because he is not feeling like he is wanted. As much as he talks to the media we should remember that he is still a young boy.

I would rather a solution where we state he is staying. He will get his games this season and once the season finishes he might just reflect that he is not always a starter but he is getting games at one of the best teams in Europe. If he gets a vot of confidence as explained above I think that would be best for all parties concerned because we are in a position where with out current strikers, we don't need to look for another one imo. But that all changes once Lukaku leaves and what I think Lukaku, fans and the board need to realise all together is that even if he is not undisputed striker for the next season or 2 I still think he remains the future of this club.

[The Mak 4,459]

and he goes and changes his twitter bio to chelsea just YESTERDAY.

Maybe because he is still a Chelsea player? This is irrelevant compared to what he has said most recently.

You do not seem to fully understand my perspective. Let me be clear:

now lets take the scenario of the "best thing for the club" from your perspective. we sell lukaku. for 25mil. YAY!!

If Lukaku leaves, for whatever fee, there is obviously some want for the player to leave himself. Otherwise he would simply say 'No, I want to fight for my place/be the future of this club' and sign a new contract. So let's get that straight.

buy who? remy? emineke? or keep torres as our second striker?

It will not matter who, as long as they accept their role as no.2 and do not try to create discontent it would be more progressive than having someone who sulks when he isn't picked. Chelsea will always attract good talent anyway.

how does that solve our striker problems?....how does selling him improve us as a squad/team?

You are confusing problems. Our main problem was not having a competent no.1 striker, that has been solved (most likely). Our current problem is Lukaku, a striker who isn't happy in his role.

Remember how terrible it was to have Torres moaning at every opportunity, blaming his shit performances on everyone and everything (including his teammates)? Remember how shit that was? Well that will happen again if we just go into this season 'hoping' Lukaku is fine with the situation. It has to be sorted beforehand.

No mate, the harsh reality is that Lukaku has basically talked himself into a corner where he has two simple options:

1) Accept being no.2, sign a new contract and be patient.

2) Be sold.

Right now, he is taking option 2 unless he decides otherwise.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Wow, calm down people..

[The Skipper 20,609]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2646047/Romelu-Lukaku-insists-wants-stay-Chelsea-despite-uncertainty.html

how strange!!! he evsaid that he wants to stay!!! and then he goes and changes his twitter bio just YESTERDAY!!!! he said this on 2nd june... right before the WC started.. right from the horses MOUTH!!!!

how anyone thinks that lukaku being sold CAN lead to jose has already being described. lukaku selling equals to us having torres and DD/remy/emenike/bamford as the 2nd striker. that is equal to us STILL having the striker problems. every striker goes thru a lean spell as will costa at some point of the season. at that time, we wont have a good back-up just like last season and then drop points, just like last season. you go into the season thinking of REALISTIC situation. costa scoring 10 goals in 5 games is not a situation JOSE would be expecting or getting us prepared from. for a season we will ATLEAST 2 goalscorers (plus torres). thats a realistic situation.

tell me who wants to be here and who u would buy with that money and how exactly will be better for us? remmy? eminike? who exactly are we talking about? who would be our 2nd striker? SAF kept CR against his will, he ended up winning them the PL! sometimes u have to make exceptions and this definitely is one of those times. its easy saying SIMPLE. but its not fifa where a player says "i want to leave" and u transfer list. right now, the better thing for the club to do will be taking a risk with a 21 year old lukaku, if it pays off, we have a striker for the next 10 years, if not, we can buy some decent back-up striker next year rather than making the same mistake we made with BA.

I ask once again... Have you just been ignoring everything in the past few weeks? It feels like you're very out of the loop on the Lukaku situation... He once again changed his mind on the situation. Here is what he said on the 7th of July:

And the Belgium forward , who has been linked with clubs all over Europe, said: What I dont want is to be loaned out.

I am 21 and I have been loaned for the last two seasons. Thibaut Courtois was loaned for three seasons and will be without doubt the first-choice Chelsea goalkeeper.

And Kevin De Bruyne has been transferred permanently to Wolfsburg. They are free in their heads - it is not my case. That would free me totally.

And the Belgian said he wants to model his progress on Argentinas goalscorer in the quarter-finals - former Real Madrid and now Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain.

I dont know - there are several clubs that are interested, he said.

I need to make a good decision to reach the absolute top so that I can score a goal like Higuain against us. It is a dream for every attacker.

Higuain has evolved slowly into becoming a top player. I want to show what I can do and play in the Champions League with a big club.

The decision will soon be taken. I have some ideas but we will have to see what is best for the clubs. I dont want to negotiate before the clubs have come to an agreement.

Again, how does that signify to you that he's made his mind up and decided that he wants to stay at the club? You're being very selective in your Lukaku thought process.

You're saying that we should think about going into next season with realistic situations? How realistic do you think it is Jose wants to keep a guy that doesn't want to be here? Until I see concrete evidence that he wants to stay this is the current, realistic situation (sorry, him changing his twitter bio doesn't cut it). How realistic do you think it is the club won't sell a guy that doesn't want to be here when he can as of right now fetch us ~£25m, rather than selling him for £10-15m less next year?

I'm actually laughing here in regards to your CR7 analogy with Lukaku. How can you even compare the situations? What has Lukaku done for CFC for you to even compare the situations? Ronaldo was United's main player, Lukaku hasn't ever played any significant role here at CFC. You're basically trying to insinuate how Lukaku could be the difference between us winning a PL and not. That's ludicrous, sorry. It's incredible how you've already put him on a C. Ronaldo pedestal when he's done NOTHING at this club. And don't even bring Sturridge into this analogy because Sturridge actually played out of position, scored goals and was a key player under AVB here at CFC. Sturridge situation had to do with managerial instability at the club here. Lukaku hasn't done anything at CFC to even deserve this sort of pedestal you've put him on.

You're saying that we should take a risk on a 21 year old that doesn't even want to be here, that'll probably just open his mouth again and disrupt the atmosphere at the club... That'll probably angle for a transfer as soon as he can again. Sorry I just don't see how that is for the betterment of CFC. Unless he's willing to accept a role here as second choice it's much better if we cash in on him right now.