Petr Cech believes Romelu Lukaku can rescue his Chelsea career and have a ‘strong’ campaign next campaign despite being linked with a move away.
Lukaku joined the Blues for £97.5m from Inter Milan last year but failed to make a mark in the Premier League, scoring just eight goals for the London side.
It has been reported the Belgium International wants a return to Inter this summer, with the Serie A side hoping to secure him on a loan deal.
But, Cech, the former Chelsea goalkeeper who is now a technical and performance advisor at the club, thinks Lukaku can put his struggles behind him at the club and still be a success.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: ‘I personally believe he will have a great season. Last season we seen how strong he can be at the beginning when he came.
‘But unfortunately, the long term injury he sustained in the game against (Aston) Villa slowed everything down and then he had Covid as well.
‘I think we could see towards the end of the season, when he was fit and ready to go again, how strong he is. I have full confidence he will bounce back and have a strong season.’
After scoring 64 goals in two years for Inter Milan, much was expected of Lukaku when he made the move to west London last year
However, a strong start to the season quickly dissipated before he was then dropped to the bench by Thomas Tuchel.
The striker struggled to regain his place from Kai Havertz up front and finished with just 15 goals in all competitions last campaign – his lowest haul since the year 2019.
Lukaku’s struggles have instigated Chelsea’s search for a new striker, with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski believed to be among their targets.
In May, Tuchel explained his team needed to be more effective in the box and hinted he would aim to sign new attackers this summer.
He said: ‘If we stick to the group then we will try to solve it with these players. ‘Is it necessary to bring more offensive players around the box to create more distractions, to create more space for each other? We will ask that question.’
