The road to redemption has been paved for Romelu Lukaku.
After weeks of having to see fans question his intentions following his unwarranted Sky Italia interview, the Belgian laid his critics to rest with a typically brutal headed finish in the Club World Cup final to help down Palmeiras. Kai Havertz will attract many of the plaudits for his penalty in extra time that secured the win but Lukaku set the Blues on their way on a day in which he had found himself in the headlines once more for his off-field antics.
And he has ultimately proven the catalyst for their success having netted in both the semi-finals against Al Hilal and then the Brazilian outfit to open the scoring in the final as Chelsea became champions of the world and, in the process, completed the set of trophies for Roman Abramovich's treasure chest.
It could not have been a sweeter turning point for Lukaku, especially following his latest hiccup on social media that left Chelsea fans furious in the build-up to one of the club's most important showpiece finals in their history.
Lukaku took to social media to drop an interesting post on his Snapchat yesterday with the post simply reading: “If you have to force it then it probably doesn’t fit”.
To be fair to the Belgian, it probably wasn’t anything to do with his Chelsea career. In fact, it was probably in reference to something in his personal life. He is human after all. He’s allowed to have a life outside of football.
But I guess the message from Chelsea fans is to just… well, read the room. After proposing the idea of returning to Inter Milan at some point in his prime years, it was not the wisest idea to make such a statement on his public Snapchat.
The Club World Cup final could be the turning point needed for the Chelsea No.9. The one chance he had, he took it. It was pretty reminiscent of the Lukaku of old. When he returned at Aston Villa over the festive period, the Belgian was short of supply but the two he had, he buried them with ease.
We’re beginning to unlock that fear factor in him again. Thomas Tuchel substituted big Rom in the 76th minute and it prompted plenty of bemusement given Palmeiras had forced a leveller and Chelsea looked in need of his inspiration to get over the line. His absence was felt despite Timo Werner's efforts. He dominated the Verdão’s defence with his strength most especially in the air. While it was a questionable substitution, Tuchel still proved his point that the team comes above any individual and it ultimately proved to be a justified decision as the Blues got over the line.
But Chelsea becoming the best team in the world was in no small part down to Lukaku’s impact. That’s what we bought him for. To deliver on the pitch. Not for the drama off the pitch. His apology interview after his comments on his future with Sky Italia may not have been convincing but he has made the ultimate apology by delivering the one trophy left on the club's checklist.
Let’s hope his remontada doesn’t end here.
Make sure you have subscribed to CareFree Chelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Anita Abayomi from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with her work. If you enjoyed reading this then give her other articles a read below.
