In the summer of 2021 we were fooled like the majority into thinking that fresh from Champions League glory, Thomas Tuchel had been handed the final piece of his Chelsea puzzle as Romelu Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge for just shy of £100m.
Three years on and reports suggest the Blues are in a one-horse race to sign another £100m goalscorer, but rather than slotting in to make Chelsea the finished article, Victor Osimhen will join the 50 or so other pieces from multiple jigsaws scattered the floor.
Finishing chances was the only thing stopping a Chelsea side which created plenty and conceded few from mounting a serious title challenge in the 2021/2022 season, and Lukaku – who had just scored 64 goals for Inter Milan in the two previous seasons – was the ideal man for the job and had “unfinished business” at the club he described as his “first love”.
The irony of those claims hit hard just four months into Lukaku’s second spell and he never recovered after his bombshell interview with Sky Italia in December 2021, in which he had a pop at Tuchel for his playing style and said he would much rather be back at Inter. Chelsea have been trying to find a buyer for him ever since and may now finally have found one.
After two seasons on loan with Inter and then Roma, Lukaku is desperate to reunite with Antonio Conte, the coach who got the very best out of him with the Nerazzurri, now in charge of Napoli. The feeling appears to be mutual.
It’s that interest which has opened the door for Chelsea to sign Osimhen, whom they would not be able to afford without Lukaku and A.N.Other, possibly Cesare Casadei, in part-exchange.
It’s a deal that makes sense for Napoli, who would get £40m and two players who want to play for them while seeing the back of someone who clearly doesn’t, and also for Chelsea, who are desperate to be rid of Lukaku, have no space for Casadei, and for some reason have failed to sign a serious striker (sorry Nico Jackson, we do love you) two years into a £1.2bn spending spree under their American owners.
Chelsea fans won’t be taking the logic of the transfer for granted, having endured (and we understand the privilege involved in this) several multi-million pound signings which have made little-to-no sense over the last two seasons. And there will of course be some excitement at seeing Osimhen in Chelsea blue.
But nothing close to the anticipation felt when Lukaku arrived while they basked in the glow of the Champions League trophy.
Romeo Lavia said this week that he chose Chelsea over Liverpool because “Chelsea is the one that is growing”, claiming that “everyone at the club can feel it”. But we can’t, and while they all seem to be toeing the ‘project’ party line, we’re yet to see many examples of that belief in action that hasn’t involved Cole Palmer doing something extraordinary.
Most of them looked as though they had no confidence in themselves, each other or the club’s direction for the majority of last season, and just when the green shoots of optimism appeared Mauricio Pochettino was given his marching orders and they’re back to square one.
We of course need to wait to reserve judgement on Enzo Maresca, but if pre-season is anything to go by, Chelsea are in for another very difficult season starting with Manchester City on Sunday.
And while Osimhen is certainly good enough to be the goalscorer Chelsea have gone without since Diego Costa left the club over six years ago, we feel safe in assuming he will face similar teething problems to those faced by the vast majority of signings made in the last couple of seasons.
And even if he doesn’t, his performances will be offset by other issues Maresca faces: how to get the best (or anything of note) out of Enzo Fernandez; which two mediocre centre-backs he should play; how to prevent the many expensive footballers sitting on the bench or at home happy. Chelsea remain a sea of doubts.
Anything was possible when Lukaku joined Chelsea three years ago, whereas now, as the soul of the club continues to be ripped out in the name of pure profit and child stars are forced into exile after multiple managerial sackings and director changes under the increasingly faceless owners, Chelsea hope has dwindled to the point where it feels as though even arguably the best striker in world football can’t save them from themselves.
