Of the £98m spent on Romelu Lukaku by Chelsea, they’d be lucky to recover a third of that if they were to try and sell him right now.
The Premier League club, and Inter Milan, both have a huge problem due to the failure of his move back to Italy along with the fact the Belgium striker experienced a disastrous World Cup.
His failure in Qatar with Belgium perfectly captured all of Lukaku’s limits – he seems exhausted and he no longer has the power or durability of two years ago.
Romelu Lukaku is struggling after experiencing a disastrous World Cup with Belgium
Lukaku is also no longer as technically sound as he was, exemplified by the three big chances he missed during their decisive group game with Croatia.
Lukaku was once a ‘wolf’ but he has turned into a ‘shy lamb’ who is anonymous on the pitch and struggles to deal with the physical impact of training.
He is a shadow of his former self and his tears after Belgium’s embarrassing group stage exit shows he feels responsible for his lack of impact on the pitch.
Lukaku’s World Cup ended with his mistakes on the pitch and his tears in the arms of Thierry Henry.
Right now, Belgium’s No 9 is experiencing the toughest moment of his career.
His injury struggles are undeniable but he has been consistently poor throughout 2022 with Chelsea, Inter Milan and Belgium.
Lukaku missed several massive chances during Belgium’s decisive group game with Croatia
Lukaku was in tears after they exited the World Cup and was embraced by Thierry Henry
After his World Cup exit tears, Lukaku is desperate to return to being a star man in Seria A.
At the moment Inter are very disappointed with his performances on the pitch but will take advantage of his poor form to ask Chelsea to extend his loan for another 12 months.
Initially the agreement when he returned to Italy provided for a purchase in the summer of 2023 but his poor performances convinced Inter to hold tight and postpone any decision on his future for another 12 months.
Below, Sportsmail takes a look at the key factors impacting Lukaku’s current form and weigh up what the future may hold for the Chelsea loanee.
UNDER PRESSURE TO IMPRESS
When Lukaku returned to Inter for the second time, he chose the No 90 shirt which in the Neapolitan cabala means “fear”.
Right now, the former Chelsea striker fears he has made the wrong decision with several career choices, including his decision to split from Antonio Conte.
In his long career,…