Lukaku Struggles To Make An Impact At World Cup - What This Means For The Striker's Future

With two lacklustre performances by young Belgium and Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku at this year’s World Cup, could his Chelsea career be over before it even really began? This World Cup was a chance for Lukaku to show the world what he can do and possibly cement his place in the Chelsea team next season. This was a particularly good opporunity for him due to the fact that Belgium’s other main striker, Christian Benteke, was ruled out of the tournament with an injury.

Looking at the stats provided by Opta, Lukaku has had one attempt at goal in two games, with that being a blocked shot from inside the area. He has not shown the ability that he clearly has as shown during his loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Everton over the last couple of years. There is also no guarantee that he will start Belgium’s final game of the group against South Korea on Thursday, as the promising performances from Divock Origi, another young striker, have caught the eye of the worldwide spectators and no doubt the manager, Marc Wilmots. Lukaku failed to register a single touch in the box in the 58 minutes that he played against Algeria. He then showed clear anger towards Wilmots at being substituted a few days later in the 1-0 victory against Russia.

The reason for his performances could be because of the pressure on his shoulders to show everyone what he can do. However, in football you don’t get many chances to impress and this tournament could cause Jose Mourinho to see him as surplus to requirements. Many clubs are rumoured to want him, including Valencia, Tottenham and most recently, according to International Business Times UK, Atletico Madrid. It is also reported by the Express, though, that Chelsea do not want him to go on loan again, and so there is a possibility that Lukaku could be included as part of a deal to sign Diego Costa.

There are still opportunities for Lukaku to impress at this World Cup if selected, but there is now very little room for error for the huge Belgium frontman.