KEY POINTS

  • Chelsea was able to pry Romelu Lukaku away from Inter Milan
  • The reunion seems to be in perfect timing
  • Werner, Havertz and Pulisic are expected to benefit from his arrival

Chelsea stunned the English Premier League this summer when they announced that they were signing Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.

The transfer has been made official and Lukaku will be returning to Stamford Bridge on a transfer bid for a club record fee of £97.5 million ($135.2 million) after he helped Inter Milan win the Serie A title for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

With his arrival in Chelsea, fans will be seeing Lukaku in his third stint in the Premier League.

Lukaku first arrived in the league from Anderlecht to Chelsea and spent three years with the club from 2011 to 2014, being sent out on loan multiple times to further develop his football skills.

Everton was so impressed that they signed him to the club and spent another three years there before landing at Old Trafford with Manchester United and then going to Inter Milan after two years with the Red Devils.

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea is set to surprise everyone in the Premier League with their calmer, slow-and-steady approach to the game.

When everyone opted for speed, Chelsea remained true to their course of playing methodically, with passes lulling the defense to sleep before rushing in for the attack.

However, Lukaku’s arrival may spell a change in direction for the Blues as the pre-season has given us a hint at what Tuchel’s Chelsea will look like this season: a tempo-changing, high-pressing style of football that works specifically well with players like Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and, of course, Lukaku.

Scoring goals is the main point of playing soccer, but getting to that point takes a ton of work.

Lukaku is a high IQ player that knows when to create scoring opportunities for himself but also for his teammates–the most important aspect of playing European football with Chelsea.

The Belgian international team player averaged 0.34 assists per 90 last season with Inter Milan, a career-high, and that’s expected to get better this year as he is set to play in a 3-4-3 midfield heavy attack.

Lukaku enjoys moving around, often drifting out to the right side of the pitch, and this will greatly benefit Havertz, Werner and Christian Pulisic since Lukaku will be getting defenders out of position for the easy tap-in goals.

For the uninformed, the physical specimen that is Lukaku enjoys receiving high-arching lobs and he has the ability to win those 50-50 opportunities, leaving defenders on the ground wondering how he can get up that high.

He’s also a prolific goal scorer that can beat defenders 1-on-1, but it will be most exciting to see him be on the receiving end of crosses from Ben Chilwell and Reece James.

Chelsea finished as the kings of the UEFA Champions League but settled at fourth place in the Premier League.

With Lukaku on board, the club looks to bring home at least two trophies to Stamford Bridge this season.

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