Where did it all go wrong for Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea?

Other contributor: Liam Twomey

Romelu Lukaku is staring longingly at the Stamford Bridge pitch and is in an emotional mood.

“Give me a ball and I will be playing here for five hours,” he says. “What a stadium. The day I’m playing here, that will be the single time in life that you would see me cry. I’m going to succeed. I’m not dreaming. I’m going to play here someday I’m sure.”

This short clip from Lukaku’s first visit to Chelsea’s ground as a young teenager in 2009 can still be found on YouTube and serves as a constant reminder of what might, or perhaps should, have been.

Whenever the governing bodies decide this year’s “summer” transfer window is going to open, Chelsea will once again be looking to buy a big-name centre-forward. It has been highlighted as an area to strengthen on an almost annual basis throughout the Roman Abramovich era but has been of even greater importance since Diego Costa left the club in 2017.

Lukaku seemed destined to be Chelsea’s long-term solution when he joined from Anderlecht in 2011 for a deal worth up to £18 million. As a huge fan of the club and their talismanic striker Didier Drogba, someone whom he has always been likened too, a long marriage looked a certainty.

At 27 years old, he is now approaching his peak, yet is already regarded as one of the best frontmen in the world with an impressive record of 210 goals from 448 senior appearances for seven different teams. He has also found the net 52 times in 84 matches for Belgium.

There is only one place he has failed to make any kind of impression: Chelsea. His record of no goals in 15 outings more than demonstrates that. How did this seemingly perfect match fail to deliver?

“It was not a secret, we knew it was his dream to play for Chelsea,” Anderlecht’s head of academy Jean Kindermans tells The Athletic. “Drogba was his idol, an example for him. His move to Chelsea was based on emotion and as a young boy he was dreaming about Drogba and playing at Stamford Bridge.”

Kindermans has helped bring through a lot of great talent at Anderlecht — Youri Tielemans, Dennis Praet, Leander Dendoncker and Adnan Januzaj to name just four — but he will never forget the emergence of Lukaku.

“He was special. He was an amazing, big, strong fast player. In every competition, he would score, whether it was one, two or three. In every international tournament, he was one of the best strikers. He was the best striker we’ve had in the last 15 years.”

Encouraged by his father Roger, a former Zaire international, Romelu joined local side Rupel Boom at the age of five. He joined Lierse six years later and soon came to the attention of Anderlecht’s academy after scoring 121 goals in 68 matches.

His reputation continued to grow with another 131 goals in 93 matches in Anderlecht’s youth set-up and he made his professional debut in 2009, aged 16.

As he progressed through the ranks, pictures of Drogba and the Chelsea team were plastered all over his bedroom walls. He was inspired by watching the side Jose Mourinho led to five major trophies between 2004 and 2007 and was a subscriber to the club’s media channel, Chelsea TV.

With Chelsea’s vast scouting network employed to scour Europe for emerging stars, it is no surprise Lukaku’s name came on their radar very quickly.

“Chelsea were following him for many years as a youth player,” explains Kindermans. “They were scouting many Belgium teams, not just Anderlecht, and they had very good reports about Lukaku.”

Championing the acquisition of Lukaku was Abramovich’s influential advisor Piet de Visser and Michael Emenalo, who initially joined Chelsea as a scout in 2007.

A first attempt was made in 2010 after Lukaku finished leading scorer in his first full season in the Belgian top flight. After getting a telephone number from former Anderlecht defender Vincent Kompany, Drogba rang to persuade him. But father Roger blocked the purchase because he wanted his son to have one more year of first-team experience at Anderlecht.

Chelsea went back 12 months later and an initial sum of £13 million plus a series of add-ons was agreed. The fact that Fernando Torres, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou, Daniel Sturridge and Drogba were already at the west London club didn’t put him off.

“Nobody could give him advice about it,” Kindermans admits. “He was in love with Chelsea. When you’re in love with a club or a woman, everyone can give advice but you’ll go through with it anyway even if it is a bad situation.

“At that moment, his father was not his agent, but they were very close and discussed all the big decisions. They both felt it was the right moment to leave Anderlecht and to go to the club that had his heart.

“As for Anderlecht, we felt that he had arrived at a new stage of his career and he had to leave. We weren’t sad. Also at that time, Anderlecht survived by selling one or two players every season. It was a normal situation for youth players to be sold for millions. Was it the best step for his career? Today we can say it would have been better if he’d left for a smaller club where he was sure to play.”

For a transfer to be a success, it can come down to timing. In Lukaku’s case, the moment of his arrival couldn’t have been much worse.

The presence of five players ahead of him in the pecking order was bad enough, but the deal was finalised after the Premier League season had already begun. The speed in which it was done took him by surprise, too — he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Anderlecht properly or even his brother Jordan, who was in the club’s academy at the time and now plays at left-back for Lazio.

More significantly, it also meant he missed the entire pre-season with Chelsea. That is never ideal, but even more so when a new manager is at the helm.

Andre Villas-Boas was given the task of revolutionising the Chelsea squad but it was pretty obvious that Lukaku was not part of his reformation from the outset.

Villas-Boas left him out of the Champions League squad and his only three starts under the Portuguese came in the League Cup. That statistic was never going to improve once results soon deteriorated. There was increasing talk of dressing room unrest and a quick dismissal. Indeed, Lukaku often found himself in the reserves, away from the first-team picture entirely and he subsequently complained about the way he was spoken to.

An interview in 2012 with Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws detailed the level of angst. “There is one man who took a lot from me: the previous trainer (Villas-Boas),” Lukaku said. “I will never forgive him for that.

“I had to play on the left, then another time on the right. You don’t develop that way. I know Villas-Boas was also under pressure. But he didn’t have to treat me like that.”

Lukaku’s sorry predicament didn’t go unnoticed back at Anderlecht, either. “We were concerned because he was losing time,” Kindermans continues. “I know how much Romelu likes the pitch. He likes training sessions, to train and to work with the ball.

“We were worried about the fact he was not playing and how he was going to develop. We know from young players, you can’t develop if you can’t play.”

Roberto Di Matteo, who replaced Villas-Boas in March 2012, made him feel more a part of the group. There was a first Premier League start in the final match of the campaign at home to Blackburn, where he registered an assist for John Terry’s opener, and he was given the opportunity to travel with the squad to Munich for the Champions League final.

But it was too little too late as far as Lukaku was concerned. As a club insider revealed: “He knocked on Emenalo’s door and said, ‘Next season I will score 20 goals somewhere else, I want to go (on loan)’.”

He told Di Matteo of his decision on the first day of pre-season training and loan offers came from several clubs including Fulham, Aston Villa and West Brom. It was the latter who sealed a deal.

An impressive 17 strikes in 35 Premier League games was better than any Chelsea player managed in 2012-13 (Frank Lampard was their top scorer in the league with 15). He thrived under the direction of former Chelsea assistant manager Steve Clarke. Surely he’d proven his point and would be leading the line for his parent club? Enter, Jose Mourinho.

Another clear message to the contrary was sent as Mourinho spent the summer of 2013 pursuing Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney. When that fell through, the club acquired veteran Samuel Eto’o from Anzhi Makhachkala.

Lukaku had actually enjoyed a positive pre-season under Mourinho and was initially feeling upbeat. But that faded as reality set in. He was in a bad place mentally when coming on as a late sub against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup Final and he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout.

Lukaku’s tame penalty is saved by Manuel Neuer (Photo: Getty Images)

The following day his agent at the time, Christophe Henrotay, filed a transfer request. It came as a surprise to Chelsea and did not go down well with Mourinho, who felt this behaviour justified his suspicions that Lukaku was not mentally ready to play for a big club.

But sources insist the pair’s relationship was better than many thought at the time. When a loan switch to Everton was formalised, Mourinho sent the youngster a message wishing him good luck.

That’s not to say it was perfect either. When Lukaku suggested to the media he’d been forced out, a defensive Mourinho fired back in a press conference: “He’s a young boy who likes to speak. But the only thing he didn’t say is why he went to Everton on loan. That’s the only thing he never says.”

For a second successive season, Lukaku scored more league goals than any Chelsea player (15, one better than Eden Hazard), but it was not enough to convince Mourinho he should lead the line. Chelsea bought Costa the following summer. The deal had long been mooted and Lukaku’s patience had run out.

It is understood he first met with Atletico Madrid to discuss a move. There was an obvious link, given Henrotay also represented Thibaut Courtois, who spent three seasons on loan from Chelsea at the La Liga club.

But his mind was set on Juventus. Coach Antonio Conte had made it pretty clear how much he wanted him. Unlike at Chelsea, Lukaku felt his ability was appreciated and admired.

However, hopes of that switch collapsed when Conte left Juventus to take the Italy job. Tottenham were keen, but the relationship between the London rivals meant that was never going to materialise.

Everton, who wanted to make the loan deal permanent, were the beneficiaries and a sale in excess of £30 million was formalised. No buy-back option was put in place.

Mention the summer window of 2017 to any Chelsea fan and they struggle to contain a grimace. It is a sore subject with Conte, who was a year into his Chelsea reign, too.

This was the final occasion when Lukaku could have got his Chelsea career back on track. It is what he wanted for a long time, too. Finally, the pathway was going to be cleared for him to be the main man.

Costa’s souring relationship with Conte meant he was heading for pastures new. As early as January, Lukaku had been earmarked as Costa’s replacement. With only Michy Batshuayi for company at Stamford Bridge, he would face little competition.

The spell at Everton had continued to go well — he’d scored 87 goals in 166 games across four seasons — but Champions League football proved elusive and the opportunity to challenge for silverware regularly seemed minimal. A new contract was offered, but the player’s mind was already made up to leave. As far as Everton were concerned, it was just about getting the best price possible.

He had remained in contact with Emenalo even after leaving Stamford Bridge for good three years earlier. The closeness of their bond was plain for all to see following a league game at Goodison Park in April 2017, when the two embraced and shared warm words in the players’ tunnel.

The west London club felt it was only a matter of time. “They were convinced he was coming back,” a Chelsea source says. “He was telling them he was coming. He saw Courtois (by that stage Chelsea’s No 1) while holidaying in the USA over the summer and when they parted, he said, ‘See you next week for pre-season training’.”

It is believed Conte, just as he had when Juventus coach, had been in touch too. Then all of a sudden the striker couldn’t be reached and ended up at Manchester United instead. Conte was furious. Emenalo was mystified. So how did Chelsea miss out?

There were a few factors. A major one was Lukaku’s decision to leave Henrotay in 2015 and ask for Mino Raiola to represent him instead. Indeed, after losing out to Manchester United, word came from people within Chelsea that a refusal to pay an agent’s fee of £15 million to Raiola was decisive.

The sum was vast but Chelsea haven’t been opposed to paying representatives huge amounts of money to conclude a deal — deals for Hazard, N’Golo Kante and Ross Barkley all included big agent fees.

As an insider explains: “Romelu found out Chelsea didn’t want to do business with Raiola, who pushed him to Manchester United. Lukaku realised Conte was not getting what he wanted, that’s what also convinced him to go to United. It was a warning sign that things were once again not clear cut at Chelsea, just like before. It’s a hypothetical, but if Henrotay was still his agent, I think he would have been a Chelsea player.”

Manchester United had another trump card — Paul Pogba. The midfielder had struck up a close friendship with Lukaku from when they first met in 2012. Both youngsters found themselves out in the cold for their respective clubs during a 3-3 draw in February 2012. They had something in common — a frustration over a lack of opportunities.

Fast forward to the summer of 2017 and Lukaku and Pogba, also represented by Raiola, were sharing a villa in Los Angeles. Inevitably the Manchester United midfielder used the time together wisely to discuss the merits of Old Trafford.

Lukaku’s surprisingly strong relationship with Mourinho came to the fore, too. His former Chelsea coach was now in charge of Manchester United and on the phone promising him the chance to lead the line. This was important: all the stories in the press centred on Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata being Manchester United’s main target. Mourinho told Lukaku to ignore it because he was the player he wanted.

Coming from a man whom Lukaku still referred to as “boss” and someone from whom he’d always wanted to earn praise, it was very persuasive.

But there was also the key matter of negotiating with Everton. Manchester United had an advantage here, too, offering Wayne Rooney as part of the deal.

Financially, Chelsea couldn’t compete. They came in with a late offer of around £75 million but Manchester United were willing to pay that, plus Raiola’s fee and give Rooney to Everton. Chelsea turned to Morata, who was their back-up option, to fill the void.

Neither were considered a great success at their respective clubs, but Lukaku outscored Morata over the next two seasons in England (42 goals to 24). Morata didn’t even see out his second campaign in west London as he was loaned out to Atletico Madrid in January 2019.

Last summer, Conte finally succeeded at the third attempt to sign Lukaku, taking him to Inter Milan, where he has thrived. His critics still claim the majority of goals come against lesser opponents, yet even if that were the case, it could be argued Chelsea could do with such an asset now when you consider they have lost to Southampton, Bournemouth and Newcastle this season.

So does Lukaku have any regrets that the fantasy of starring for Chelsea never became a reality? According to those closest to him, no. The player himself has admitted that if he had rejoined them in 2017, he would have been under a lot more pressure than at Manchester United. He also enjoyed the challenge of something new.

One wonders though if he occasionally watches back that video clip of himself as a youngster — looking and talking so longingly about his surroundings — and wonders what might have been.

Kindermans believes Lukaku still benefited from his Chelsea bond, just not in the way that was planned.

“Nearly 10 years later, we can’t say it was a bad decision,” he says. “Romelu is one of the best strikers in the world and has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world. The difficulty to impose himself at Chelsea gave him the intelligence to know that he had to change. He learned from it.”

(Top photo: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)