Jagielka: This was Mourinho’s plan all along

The Mirror report how Phil Jagielka has claimed Chelsea are in a win-win situation regarding Romelu Lukaku‘s impressive form, as the Belgian striker starts to take points off his parent club’s title rivals.

Some Chelsea fans questioned Jose Mourinho’s decision to send the powerful striker out on loan for a second consecutive season, but ‘The Special One’ looks to have made the right choice once again as Jagielka explains.

“It’s not a bad idea and a way at looking at things from Chelsea’s perspective,” Jagielka told the Mirror.

“Unfortunately for Rom, with Chelsea mainly playing one up front, he had a big decision to make whether to stay there and play five or 10 games a season or do what he did when he went to West Brom last season.

“I think he made the right decision. That’s already been proven and we’re only a third the way through the season.

“Potentially it can work for Chelsea. He can’t play against Chelsea, but can against everyone else.”

With Lukaku becoming more and more prominent in Everton’s system, he could end up playing a vital part in Chelsea’s title campaign after all by default. If he continues his fine form and repeats last season’s individual success then it would be hard for Mourinho to not give the youngster a chance in the Chelsea first-team come next season.

Romelu Lukaku has scored 1 goal every 91.7 minutes so far this season – 7 goals in 642 minutes.