Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has hailed Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku as the best signing of the summer transfer window.
Speaking to Betting Odds, Glen Johnson was quizzed about who he thinks is the best signing of the summer transfer window. And the former Liverpool defender has claimed that Romelu Lukaku is his pick, with Chelsea finally filling what had been a problem area for them last season.
Lukaku is currently in his second coming at Chelsea, having first spent three years at Stamford Bridge between 2011 and 2014. In that stint, though, the Belgian international hardly featured and was instead sent out on a couple of loan spells, wherein he flourished on each occasion.
Eventually, he was signed permanently by Everton before he made his way to Manchester United. After a couple of topsy-turvy campaigns at Old Trafford, Lukaku joined Inter Milan, where he finally managed to explode and become the powerhouse of a striker he is today. And so, it hardly came as a surprise that Chelsea were one of the clubs who were hot on his trails this past summer.
The Blues had been intent on signing a striker in the summer transfer window following Timo Werner’s struggles last term upon arriving from RB Leipzig. Chelsea were then linked with a fair few strikers before they eventually circled back to Lukaku and signed him for a club-record fee. And former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson believes the 28-year-old is the best summer signing.
Johnson said, “I’d probably say Romelu Lukaku. I think Chelsea have needed that sort of role for a while. They’ve bought a young enough striker who’s banging in goals. He was great in this summer’s international tournament with Belgium and knows how to perform on the big stage.
“I really think Chelsea are going to put on a competitive title race and they’re going to go deep into many competitions. To do that I think you need a striker like him. It’s good business. In hindsight of course Chelsea would never have sold him in the first place. But if they hadn’t sold him, he wouldn’t have turned into the player he is today.”
“If I was the Chief Executive I would be cringing thinking ‘Oh God, we’ve just spent £60 million more than we sold him for!’ At the same time, you’re buying a different player at a different time, things move on. It is what it is. If they don’t get it right this time, it’d be super embarrassing. But if they do get it right, I think everyone could live with that.”
Johnson’s comments do hold true in the sense that Chelsea have needed a top class striker for quite some time. Indeed, ever since the departure of Diego Costa a few years ago, the Blues have struggled to find a striker who can be a consistent performer over the course of the season. What now remains to be seen is if Lukaku manages to deliver the Premier League title for Chelsea this season.
