Two summers ago Romelu Lukaku was a self-anointed king of Milan, the formidable striker having fired 20-plus league goals for a second consecutive season in the Italian capital.
If his first goal-haul was impressive, reminding one and all of his capabilities, his second propelled Inter to a first Serie A title in a decade and furthermore, the Belgian’s prolificacy in 2020/21 saw him claim the Serie A Footballer of the Year merit, along with a Ballon d’Or nomination.
That summer, Lukaku sworn his allegiance to the Nerazzurri while also taking the time to cheekily retort to his former Manchester United team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the aging AC Milan striker claiming some months earlier that he was a god of the city.
“Bow down,” the rejuvenated star tweeted, taking aim at a player he had twice clashed with in derbies that term. “The real God has crowned the king.”
It is pertinent to highlight this particular moment in time as it represents the zenith of Lukaku’s career-arc, and likely too sadly that will remain the case.
A matter of weeks later the 28-year-old enjoyed a personally successful Euros and should we freeze-frame at this juncture we find a forward at the top of his game and on top of the world, with revisions in place regarding his previous struggles at United.
Because granted, he stunk the place out at Old Trafford, misfiring on a regular basis, but what itinerant poacher doesn’t have at least one blot on his C.V?
At West Brom and Everton he had proven himself to be one of the best Premier League strikers around and now here he was on the continent reproving his elite stature all over again.
For Belgium incidentally there has never been a doubt about this, Lukaku scoring 75 in 108 appearances for his country.
Only then, as he straddled the mountain-top, feared once more by defenders and with his reputation comprehensively replenished, the player decided to burn his bridges at Inter, returning to the club where it all began for him in England.
In August 2021, he signed for Chelsea for the preposterous sum of £97.5m.
At Stamford Bridge everything unravelled and spectacularly so. Despite being serviced by some of the best Premier League midfielders of all time the 29-year-old’s forward-play was a hopeless mismatch with Thomas Tuchel’s mandate, to such an extent that even the simple aspects were beyond him.
His touch was appalling. His passes went astray. Shorn of all confidence, he may as well have been wearing a United jersey.
So Lukaku demonstrated that he hadn’t learned the age-old ethos about never going back and rejoined Inter, this time on loan, where his struggles continued, as injuries took a toll.
A productive latter half to his campaign may have resulted in the Nerazzurri making the deal permanent, but they discovered he had privately been agitating for a move elsewhere. Aggrieved at this, they are now out of the equation.
Which essentially leaves Lukaku homeless, unwanted at Chelsea and with only a far-fetched swap deal with Juventus an option, involving Turin flop Dusan Vlahovic going the other way. With Juve demanding extra money on top it feels like a complicated deal but watch this space.
Presently though, what we have is a striker whose presence and potential for goals makes him an expensive proposition but whose propensity to disappoint leaves him somewhat undesirable.
In between those two distinct stools, it feels like an awfully long way from his heady summer of 2021.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
