If someone had told me almost a year ago on the day when Romelu Lukaku signed for Chelsea that I would be writing this today, I would not have believed that person at all. However, that is exactly what has transpired.
When Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge last August following two highly successful years at Inter Milan, many lauded it as a move which would further cement Chelsea as the favourites to go back-to-back in the Champions League. After all, the London club had just won the biggest prize in European club football without an elite centre-forward. With a player who had averaged 20 league goals per season over the past six campaigns leading the line, it was widely believed that despite the Blues' massive outlay of £97.5 million, the large sum paid to land the Belgian would be worth it.
Any such theory was rapidly proven false. Lukaku had the worst season of his career as a starting centre-forward, scoring a paltry eight league goals. More often than not, Lukaku proved to be a liability on the field. In addition, Lukaku's relationship with Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel was a tenuous one; the situation was not helped by Lukaku's open statements of his dissatisfaction with the club.
So abject was Lukaku's performance last season, especially relative to his transfer fee, that some have branded his signing by Chelsea "the worst signing of all time". Coupled with Lukaku's desire to return to the San Siro, it should have come as no surprise that Chelsea sent Lukaku on loan to Inter for the 2022-23 season.
However, this time around, Lukaku's arrival at Inter takes on a very different air to that of his first go-around at the club. When Lukaku joined Inter from Manchester United in 2019, he was viewed as a player who could perhaps become the world's best centre-forward or close to it under just the right system. That's exactly what he got at Inter. Lukaku torched defenses not only across Italy, but in continental tournaments as well. He was unsurprisingly selected as Serie A's Player of the Year in the 2020-21 season after scoring 24 league goals and leading Inter to a first league title since 2010.
Now, Lukaku returns to Inter with his career as a crossroads. This is almost certainly his last chance to prove that he still has what it takes to be regarded as an elite striker. Should he have another poor season, it may be time to close the book on his time at the top table. It should also be noted that Inter are no longer coached by Conte; it is now Simone Inzaghi at the helm. This means that Lukaku will no longer be able to benefit from the system in which he had been truly dominant.
In the context of his career as a whole, Lukaku's abject 2021-22 season was a complete anomaly. There were absolutely no signs leading up to that point which indicated that Lukaku would struggle as badly as he did. What made it even more baffling was the fact that it wasn't even an age-related decline. At 28, Lukaku should have been playing as though he was squarely in the midst of his prime.
That being said, now that he's back in familiar surroundings at a club for which he had so much success, there are no excuses left. The version of Lukaku last seen at Inter was a force of nature. Very few strikers in football history have combined power, athleticism, technical skill, and finishing ability in a body of that size. If Lukaku can somehow recapture the magic of his prior Inter stint, opposing defenders are in for a torrid time throughout the upcoming season.
However, if Lukaku once again flounders, it will mark one of the most abrupt ends to the peak years of any player of that calibre. If he is to cement himself as one of the "immortals" of this generation, he must prove that Chelsea was just a blip and that as he enters his career's second act, he has not yet lost a step.
Inter's Serie A and Champions League hopes as well as Lukaku's own legacy hang in the balance. The question is - which way will the balance tip?
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