Romelu Lukaku

[BlueLyon 9,359]

There is only one way this kid will ever suceed here. By playing REGULARY FROM NEXT SEASON ON!!! No Cavani, no Falcao no one else. Just him and Ba rotating. If he wont play, he will leave and another lost talent.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Errrr...because he'll be playing regularly at West Brom. How can you have missed the most crucial part of my argument?

I haven't said anything about Falcao or Cavani so not sure why that's part of your response to my post.

We'll just have to agree to disagree anyway because it's getting a bit silly in here with all the Earth-2 nonsense and false dichotomies.

How many minutes will he play for us next season? With Ba and him to share minutes, I'd expect him to get a lot. Of course we probably won't do that but it doesn't mean we shouldn't.

There's always an argument not to do something, to hold back on taking a chance on someone but at some point you have to do that and he looks ready.

[bushman 2,043]

Well said. Just bring Lukaku home. That´s where he belongs & wants to be.

Money saved on those ballerinas should be used to buy other players. Striking duo of Lukaku & BA should be sufficient for next year.

[Santiago. 1,500]

Imagine having a strike force of Ba, Lukaku and Sturridge? Would've been perfect IMO.

If under Mourinho, oh god yes.

[Nic! 301]

He's not ready to be the first striker at Chelsea. Yes, he's brilliant sometimes. But he also has 1 out of 3 games where he does absolutely fuck. But I agree that he's already too good to be Chelsea thirth option. His progression would be halted and besides a heavy injury, that's the worst that can happen to him football-wise.

So for me it's either a loan to a better team than WBA or give him a second forward position at Chelsea.

[Rmpr 8,977]

He's not ready to be the first striker at Chelsea. Yes, he's brilliant sometimes. But he also has 1 out of 3 games where he does absolutely fuck. But I agree that he's already too good to be Chelsea thirth option. His progression would be halted and besides a heavy injury, that's the worst that can happen to him football-wise.

So for me it's either a loan to a better team than WBA or give him a second forward position at Chelsea.

I would love to see him on Everton or something for next season...

[Stingray 9,441]

He's not ready to be the first striker at Chelsea. Yes, he's brilliant sometimes. But he also has 1 out of 3 games where he does absolutely fuck. But I agree that he's already too good to be Chelsea thirth option. His progression would be halted and besides a heavy injury, that's the worst that can happen to him football-wise.

So for me it's either a loan to a better team than WBA or give him a second forward position at Chelsea.

Actually, Cavani and Lukaku as ST 1 & 2 would have been the bomb .... A good role model, a young super talent, no diva (Torres) that fucks up your rotation and results and no intermediate pope (Ba).

Alas ....

[bushman 2,043]

Actually, Cavani and Lukaku as ST 1 & 2 would have been the bomb .... A good role model, a young super talent, no diva (Torres) that fucks up your rotation and results and no intermediate pope (Ba).

Alas ....

If Lukaku is not ready, then when will he be ready ? Just because he makes the odd mistake, it does not mean he won´t compensate for it, does it ?

After all, at 18 he surely is the best Chelsea´s future player, by far. Who could come close to him, Josh ?

We all can pontificate about the pros & cons of Lukaku being at WB but I instead will enjoy the moments when he plays so well for WB for now.

[Blue Armour 4,168]

And why is he better placed to do that at West Brom then at Chelsea?

People want to give him time and be patient - isn't that what we've done for the last decade? And how's that working out for us? So we give him another season on loan, what's the argument against giving him another one? It's the same argument that it is now isn't it, that we don't know if he'll be good enough for us.

I think what people are trying to say is that he needs a loan not to the Midlands or Spain, but somewhere a bit further afield. That's right....

he needs a loan move to a parallell universe. He needs to spend at least a decade on Earth-2 where he will play on exactly the same team as he would here, but without the risk to our own title chances (because we'll have them won't we?). Only then, at the age of 29 will we know if he's good enough to play for us and then we can obviously use the time machine to travel back in time to the summer of 2013 and take a chance on him.

In the meantime, let's just throw some money at Falcao or Cavani or *insert flavour of the month's name*.

The player himself feels more comfortable with another period on loan. Do you think its wise to deny him that?

[The only place to be 11,313]

The player himself feels more comfortable with another period on loan. Do you think its wise to deny him that?

Yes.

[Blue Armour 4,168]

Yes.

Lol...care to elaborate?

[The only place to be 11,313]

Lol...care to elaborate?

I'm not entirely sure he knows what's best for his development. I think he would be best served by coming back to Chelsea and joining the first-team squad.

[Blue Armour 4,168]

I'm not entirely sure he knows what's best for his development. I think he would be best served by coming back to Chelsea and joining the first-team squad.

True, which is why I think he should come back to club at the end of the season and talk to his manager (whoever it will be) before making a decision regarding his development. That's obviously what's going to happen of course...

[LukakutoStamford 779]

This thread is cracking me up. What's crazy is that Lukaku hasn't started many games. He's been mostly used as a 60-75 minute sub for WBA. While Chelsea could use him as a super sub next year it would be short sighted. He needs another year in order to get many more 90 games under his belt to develop his stamina and get used to playing 30+ 90 minute matches. Another year at WBA in an expanded role would be excellent as Clarke has been very good at bringing him along slowly.

[ja1 1,166]

He's not ready to be the first striker at Chelsea. Yes, he's brilliant sometimes. But he also has 1 out of 3 games where he does absolutely fuck. But I agree that he's already too good to be Chelsea thirth option. His progression would be halted and besides a heavy injury, that's the worst that can happen to him football-wise.

So for me it's either a loan to a better team than WBA or give him a second forward position at Chelsea.

I agree - but this is expected as he is 19. This is another reason why I believe it was the right decision to send him on loan, as he is at a relatively low pressure environment at WBA. When he has a bad game no-one really cares but when he has a good game everyone praises him. Not saying he doesn't deserve praise, nor am I criticising the fans, what he is achieving at 19 is incredible, just the situation he is in ATM. At Chelsea poor performances will be much more scrutinised.

[ja1 1,166]

Also, R. Lukaku has become youngest 'foreign' player to score 10 goals in season in English first division. 10 weeks younger than Anelka.

[ja1 1,166]

Lukaku and Ba will NOT be enough next season.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Lukaku and Ba will NOT be enough next season.

Really? Right now we're third in the league. Our main problem has been throwing away leads and leaking goals. Our main striker (Torres) has scored just 7 goals in the league despite a lot of playing time.

Ba has scored 14 (13 at Newcastle) and Lukaku has scored 10 (the same number as Rooney).

I'm not saying we couldn't use a 3rd option in the mould of Anelka or Kalou who could play on the wings as well, but I don't think we're quite as far away as you might be suggesting.