Official: Lukaku signs £97.5m contract with Chelsea

Prolific striker, Romelu Lukaku has officially signed a five-year contract with European champions, Chelsea.

The contract is worth £97.5m.

The former Inter Milan striker is having his second stint at Chelsea, as he played for the Stamford Bridge side between 2011 and 2014 before he was sold.

Lukaku has developed overtime to be one of the best strikers in the world. He was the second highest goal scorer in Serie A after Cristiano Ronaldo last season.

The striker has netted 80 goals for club and country in the past two seasons alone, adding a ruthless streak to the tenacity and touch that have defined his game for so long.

Lukaku has eight years of Premier League experience under his belt. During that time, he scored 113 goals in the division, taking him up to 20th place on the list of all-time Premier League goalscorers.

Aged just 18 when he arrived at Stamford Bridge from Anderlecht in his homeland in the summer of 2011, he made 15 Chelsea appearances in three seasons, two of which were largely spent on loan, before moving on to Everton, Manchester United and Inter Milan.

While at Inter, Lukaku was named the Europa League Player of the Season in 2019/20, before playing an integral part as the Italian side won Serie A last season. His 24 goals and 11 assists earned him the competition’s MVP award.

Now 28, he was named in UEFA’s team of the tournament for Euro 2020, during which he netted four times in Belgium’s run to the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by eventual champions Italy.

Lukaku has long impressed on the international stage and has scored 64 times in 98 games during a golden period for his national side. He is by some distance Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer, and now rejoins the Blues aiming to help us win further domestic and continental honours.

He said he is happy and blessed to be back at Chelsea and that it has been a long journey for him.

“I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.

“The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.

‘The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A. I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together,” he said on Chelsea’s website.

According to Lukaku, since he left Chelsea, it has been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but that these experiences made him strong and that the challenge was to try to help the team win some more trophies.

He said he could not wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.

Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “Romelu Lukaku is quite simply one of the world’s best strikers and goalscorers. We are absolutely delighted to be bringing him back to the club he loves, and are excited to be adding his talent to our Champions League-winning squad.

“We are of course looking to build on last season’s success, and Lukaku will play a big role in achieving our targets. I’m sure all Chelsea fans will join me in saying welcome home, Romelu!”