Didier Drogba has backed Romelu Lukaku to ‘come good’ at Chelsea and hopes his goal in the final can kick-start his season.
Lukaku has largely underwhelmed for the London side after a £97.5m move from Inter Milan last summer, scoring just five goals in 16 Premier League games.
The Belgian began the 2021-22 campaign in superb form – netting six goals in six games for club and country – but injury and off-field issues appear to have affected his form.
- Marcos Alonso reveals Lampard was wrong in bust-up with former Chelsea manager
- Arsenal line up huge summer move for Chelsea star
- Fabregas tells Chelsea star he needs to be ‘more of a bastard’
Lukaku angered Chelsea supporters and was dropped by Thomas Tuchel after giving a controversial interview to Sky Sports Italia in December, but he did his reputation no harm by scoring in the Club World Cup final.
The Belgium international headed home Chelsea’s opening against Palmeiras and, while Veiga equalised for the Brazilian team, Kai Havertz scored a key penalty kick late in extra-time.
Asked about Lukaku after the Club World Cup win, former Chelsea player Drogba said: ‘He took his responsibility to talk and put a bit more pressure on himself and delivered tonight, scoring an important goal.
‘Obviously, every player always has something to prove and will always want to do better but he’s there, big game, he scored the goal to give us the lead.
‘I’m really happy because I spoke [in the past] and after that I put pressure on myself. But I spoke because I knew I could handle this pressure. Maybe I needed that as well to perform and it’s good to see that his mentality is being positive.
‘He’s a goalscorer, he has done that before and he’s having a difficult moment, but bouncing back this kind of trophy will bring his confidence back.
‘I think he will [come good]. He put himself under a certain pressure because coming back to the club where your start was difficult and you come back because you want to prove a point, but he’s winning and I think he’s going to make it.’
By winning the Club World Cup, Chelsea ensured they have now lifted every possible trophy under Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Drogba, who won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup during his time at the club, added: ‘It’s amazing for the club to be on top of the world. What a year for Chelsea, what a year.
‘This was the ambition when I joined the club in 2004 and we started by winning the League, winning the FA Cup, winning the Carling Cup and all these domestic trophies.
‘Then we tried and we managed to achieve the one with the big ears (the Champions League). I think the objective, the goal was to win the trophies, but also to inspire the next generations, you know players like Callum [Hudson-Odoi] and Mason [Mount] and all the guys, to inspire them and, hopefully, winning another trophy.
‘That’s exactly what they did, another Champions League and then because they are competitors they remember they lost the one, the Fifa Club World Cup, in 2012, so they knew how important this was for the club. Now I’m here and I’m celebrating with them as well.’
