Former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has praised the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan this summer.
The Belgium international has made a strong start to life at Stamford Bridge, scoring in the win over Arsenal to show precisely why the Blues paid the big money for him.
Lukaku struggled in his most recent spell in the Premier League with Manchester United, but now looks a different player after a highly successful two-year spell at Inter.
Lukaku scored 30 goals in 44 games in all competitions last season to establish himself as one of the most dangerous forwards in the game, and it’s clear Chelsea needed someone like that in their squad.
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Wright-Phillips has described the 28-year-old as being the final piece of the puzzle in Thomas Tuchel’s side, praising him for his out-and-out centre-forward play and for the way he’s studied his game and worked to improve in recent years.
“For me, they’ve added a piece that was missing to their jigsaw,” Wright-Phillips told the Independent.
“With Lukaku you know if he’s getting chances, you know he’ll score more than 20 goals a season if not more. They missed that last year because I think their top goalscorer was on like six or seven goals.
“He is just a learner of the game and I think he studies and always asks questions of the game. He won’t do anything less than score goals at Chelsea.
“It looks like he has taken on board all the advice he has been given and I think he’s matured as a player and that has shown in his game.
“What I liked about him against Arsenal was that was the first time in a long time in a game where I’ve seen an actual number nine do what a number nine is supposed to do.
“Hold the ball up, bring other players into the game, his first goal that he scored was one you typically see in training.”
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