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Those were the words of a young and confident Romelu Lukaku as he gazed at the Stamford Bridge pitch in awe while on a stadium tour as a teenager. And those words could soon be immortalised in the sporting history books – although there were always going to be a few bumps in the road.
I remember seeing Romelu Lukaku for the first time, warming up in front of me at Stamford Bridge back in August 2011 before making his Chelsea debut against Norwich. I nudged my brother in shock as I was finding it hard to believe that our new signing from Anderlecht was only 18, given his physical stature and demeanour. It felt like the Belgian was destined for great things in west London, particularly after he picked out Didier Drogba as his footballing idol. However, numerous managerial changes and limited chances in the first team saw him eventually depart after impressing on loan.
His exit was bittersweet for us Chelsea fans. We knew we were losing a massive talent but at the same time, we were aware that he’d outgrown his squad-player role and was now good enough to be a starting no.9 elsewhere. Yet somehow I knew that Romelu would one day return to the Bridge and prove the doubters wrong. It always felt like the Chelsea faithful and Lukaku had this kind of mutual admiration for one another, almost as if he still belonged to us.
We’ve now reached that moment in time. Ten years on from that Norwich game and after an extremely impressive two-year stint at Inter Milan, Lukaku is back in Chelsea blue and has unfinished business in the capital. I’m over the moon as we’re finally getting that 20-goals-a-season striker that we’ve needed for so long. He could be the last piece in Thomas Tuchel’s jigsaw as the manager looks to cement this side as a European powerhouse for years to come.
Before he left, Lukaku’s last kick of a ball for Chelsea saw him miss the deciding penalty in the 2013 Super Cup final. Maybe that moment came too soon for him, as he tried to replicate his hero Drogba’s success. However, I have no doubt that Romelu watched our shootout triumph against Villareal this season and it fuelled his eagerness and impatience to succeed here. Rom is back – and he means business.
