Was sending Romelu Lukaku out on loan the right decision?

Romelu Lukaku

Deadline day held one massive surprise for Chelsea fans across the world. Romelu Lukaku, who had scored 17 goals for West Bromwich Albion on loan the previous season, was once again sent out on loan, this time to Everton. Mourinho had made it clear that the young Belgian would stay at Chelsea this season and fight for his spot so the last-minute deal was surprising.

So far Lukaku has made one appearance for Everton, coming off the bench against West Ham and scoring the winning goal. That means he’s actually scored more League goals than all of Chelsea’s current strikers combined. An embarrassing stat on first glance, and it leads to the very obvious question: should Chelsea have sent Romelu Lukaku out on loan for a second consecutive year?

The obvious answer is no. He scored more league goals last season than both Fernando Torres and Demba Ba. He is young and can only improve, therefore it would have made sense for him to stick around and flourish at his parent club instead of spending another season away on loan.

While he wouldn’t have been first-choice to begin with, he would have eventually worked his way into the first team given that the competition for the spot of Chelsea’s lone striker isn’t exactly fierce. Torres and Ba are both inconsistent, and there are still question marks over whether Eto’o is the solution to Chelsea’s problems in front of goal.

Even at West Brom last season, Lukaku had to earn his way into the starting XI by putting in a few good performances while coming off the bench. Only then did he make himself first-choice ahead of Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie.

However, if you sit back and think about it for a minute, the loan move makes perfect sense.

Chelsea are currently trying to employ a new style of play under Mourinho. The Special One is trying his best to bring about a pass-and-move style of play instead of his preferred counter-attacking methods.

Given that Chelsea don’t really have a set style of play at the moment, expecting a youngster like Lukaku to flourish under such conditions would have been slightly unfair on him. Using experienced campaigners like Eto’o and Torres (I don’t expect Ba to get too many games this season) in such a transitional phase makes sense.

Also, it must be noted that Everton also play a pass-and-move style under Roberto Martinez. By the time this season is over, Lukaku will be fully accustomed to playing in that type of system. At the same time, Chelsea would have improved upon (if not perfected) their current style of play by working on it throughout this season. Putting two and two together, Lukaku should be ready to lead the line come next season.

Lastly, Lukaku wants to be selected for Belgium’s World Cup squad next summer and to do that, he will have to play regularly, something he was never guaranteed at Chelsea. At Everton, there is less pressure on him and he will be able to get more than his fair share of game time.

To sum it up, the decision to send him out on another season’s loan makes perfect sense.