When Napoli won just their second title in over 30 years in 2024/25, much of the focus, on these shores at least, was the performances of former Manchester United player Scott McTominay which earned the Scottish midfielder a Ballon d’Or nomination. However, top scorer for the Gli Azzurri that season was Belgian Striker, Romelu Lukuku, who has flown under the radar since his ill-fated second spell with Chelsea.
There aren’t many players who have been sold by a club, bought back in the future and then sold on again without ever really making much of an impression on either occasion, which was the case for Lukuku at Chelsea. The Belgian has become something of a journeyman during his career, never really been able to settle anywhere for long enough to be fully taken to heart by the supporters of the clubs he has played for. Perhaps only Everton fans truly loved him, but should he be considered as one of the best strikers on the continent over the last decade?
Growing up in Belgium
Born in the Belgian city of Antwerp on the 13th of May 1993, Romelu Lukaku joined his local side, Rupel Boom, when he was a five-year-old. Scouted by representatives of the Belgian Pro League club Lierse, he moved there on account of the fact that they had an established youth academy. He played for them between 2004 and 2006, finding the back of the net 121 times across 68 matches. When they were relegated out of the Belgian Pro League, Anderlecht decided to put 13 of their players, one of whom was Lukaku, who continued his youth career with his new club.
Having scored 131 times in 93 matches for Anderlecht’s youth team, he was given a professional contract with the club when he turned 16 in the May of 2009. His Belgian First Division debut came 11 days later, becoming a regular in the team from that point onwards, even though the team lost the match 1-0. His first goal at senior level came against Zulte Waregem in the 89th minute of the match on the 28th of August 2009. He finished the season with 15 goals in the Pro League, making him the top scorer as he helped Anderlecht win the club’s 30th top-flight title.
Joining Chelsea as a Teenager
Such were Lukaku’s goalscoring exploits at every level of the game in Belgium, including 20 goals across all competitions in the 2010-2011 season, that Premier League side Chelsea decided to take a risk by bringing him to England. He signed a five-year contract in the August of 2011, with the Blues paying Anderlecht a reported fee of £10 million, which could rise to £17 million if add-ons were met. His debut came as an 83rd-minute substitute at Stamford Bridge in a game against Norwich City, with the striker replacing Fernando Torres in what turned out to be a 3-1 win.
His first start came in the League Cup, with the Blues going on to win the match against Fulham in a penalty shootout. The majority of the season, however, saw Lukaku play with the reserves as he failed to make the breakthrough with Chelsea the first time. In fact, it took until the 13th of May 2012 for him to get his first start in the Premier League, putting in a Man of the Match performance against Blackburn Rovers that included setting up John Terry for the opener. In spite of this, he found the season to be disappointing and refused to hold the trophy when the Blues won the Champions League.
Loan Move to West Brom
Having endured speculation that Lukaku would be joining Fulham on loan, the striker actually ended up moving to West Bromwich Albion for the season on the tenth of August 2012. He came on as a substitute for the Baggies eight days later, scoring in a 3-0 win over Liverpool.
His full debut came at the Hawthorns against Reading, scoring the only goal of the game. When he scored and assisted in West Brom’s win over Sunderland, that proved to be the first time that the club had won four consecutive top-flight games since 1980. His tenth goal of the season came against Liverpool in a 2-0 win.
As speculation mounted that he wanted to remain at West Brom for another year, Lukaku came out in the press and stated his desire to become a Chelsea legend. Towards the end of the season, he scored a perfect hat-trick in a thriller against Manchester United, with the Baggies coming from 3-0 down to draw Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1,500th game in charge 5-5. In spite of the fact that he outscored all of Chelsea’s players during his loan move, he only played two Premier League games for the Blues in the 2013-2014 season before being sent back out on loan once more.
Heading to Goodison Park
Although Lukaku’s goalscoring ability was never in doubt, the fact that he missed the deciding penalty in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, giving Bayern Munich the win, might well have been the reason for the striker’s departure from the Chelsea. Having joined Everton on loan on the final day of the summer transfer window in 2013, he scored the winning goal in a 3-2 win for the Blues on his debut. He also scored a brace and got an assist against Newcastle United in a 3-2 win. Two goals in the Merseyside derby endeared him to the Everton fans, earning him a place in the list of The Guardian’s ten most promising young players.
Across 31 appearances for Everton, Lukaku scored 15 times, which helped the Merseysiders earn their best ever Premier League haul of 72 points. Even though he had proven himself at both West Bromwich Albion and Goodison Park, Chelsea decided not to keep Lukaku around. Instead, the striker signed with Everton on a permanent basis when the club chose to pay a record fee of £28 million for him. On the 19th of February 2015, he scored another perfect hat-trick, this time against Young Boys in the Europa League last 32. He continued to score for the club, proving Chelsea wrong for selling him.
From Manchester to Milan
On the tenth of July 2017, Manchester United paid Everton a fee believed to be in the region of £75 million up front with another £15 million in add-ons in order to bring in the striker. The signing came a day after Wayne Rooney had departed Old Trafford in the other direction, returning to his boyhood club. Although he continued to score goals, Lukaku failed to make any real impression at Manchester United across the two seasons that he spent at the club. In the end, he was signed by Italian club Inter Milan on the eighth of August 2019 for a club record fee believed to be around €80 million.
He developed a good working relationship with young Argentinian forward Lautaro Martínez, being dubbed ‘Lu-La’ by the Italian media. As is sadly the case far too often in Italy, the player was on the receiving end of racist abuse from supporters of other clubs. His first Serie A season ended up with the club missing out on the title to Juventus by a single point. Things were better the following year, however, with Lukaku helping the club win Serie A for the first time in more than a decade. He got 24 goals and 11 assists during the campaign, which caused Chelsea to want to take him back.
Club Record Chelsea Return
On the 12th of August 2021, Lukaku was re-signed by Chelsea on a five-year deal. It was a decade after he had joined the Stamford Bridge side for the first time, with a club record fee of £97.5 million reportedly agreed. That made him the most expensive player of all time in terms of cumulative transfer fees, taking the amount paid for him nearly £285 million. He had requested that Inter reach an agreement with Chelsea to allow him to return to a place where he felt he had unfinished business. He scored on his second debut, netting in a 2-0 win over London rivals Arsenal.
Having been named on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or in the October of 2021, the player stoked controversy towards the end of December when he was critical of Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel for choosing to ‘play with another system’. He also said that he hoped to return to Inter in the ‘near future’, which resulted in him being dropped from the squad altogether. Although he apologised to the manager, playing in the semi-final of the League Cup against another London rival in Tottenham Hotspur, his eight goals in 26 league games made him one of the ‘worst signings of the season’ according to ESPN.
Reputation Rebuild in Serie A
On the 29th of June 2022, Chelsea confirmed that Lukaku would be heading back to Inter Milan on a season-long loan. He suffered numerous injuries at the start of the season, but returned to the team and helped the club make it to the final of the Champions League. Ultimately, they lost to Manchester City and Lukaku faced criticism for his performance in the 1-0 defeat. In the summer of 2023, Chelsea agreed another loan move for Lukaku, this time returning to Italy with Roma. It was reported that he had also agreed a new contract with Chelsea prior to the move, which resulted in his wages being cut.
His first goal came on the 17th of September 2023, netting in the 7-0 win over Empoli. In total, he ended up playing 32 Serie A games for Roma, scoring 13 times. At the end of the season, he returned to Chelsea, only for the club to agree a deal to send him back to Italy. This time, though, it was on a permanent basis rather than on loan. Napoli had reportedly agreed a deal worth around €30 million for his signature. He scored an equaliser in stoppage time on his debut, helping Napoli win 2-1 against Parma. He also scored the second goal in a 2-0 win over Cagliari that secured Napoli the Serie A title.
Belgium’s Record Goalscorer
Lukaku made his international debut for Belgium aged just 16, starting for the Red Devils in a friendly against Croatia. His first goals for the Belgian national team came later that year, netting twice against Russia in a 2-0 victory in Voronezh when still on 17 years of age. A first goal in a major tournament came in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where Belgium faced the USA in Salvador in the round of 16. A tight game finished 0-0 after 90 minutes but a Kevin De Bruyne goal was followed by a powerful left-foot strike from Lukaku in extra time to secure a 2-1 win.
Fast forward to November 2020, Lukaku, now aged 27, became Belgium record ever goalscorer when he scored his 31st international goal in a friendly game against Japan in Bruges. Since then, the forward has added 58 goals for a total of 89 in 124 appearances, making him Europe’s second highest international goalscorer behind only Cristiano Ronaldo. Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ didn’t win the silverware they perhaps deserved but Romelu Lukaku’s goalscoring record for his country may never be beaten.