Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has said that Romelu Lukaku is well on his way to becoming a true Premier League great.
Lukaku took his goal tally to 12 on Saturday against Bournemouth and has scored 25 times so far this year.
Drogba is a former teammate of Lukaku, with the two being together at Chelsea. Drogba is now at MLS side Montreal Impact, joining the Canadian side in the summer after winning the Premier League and Capital One Cup with Jose Mourinho’s side.
He’s scoring goals with his left foot, right foot, his head. I told him he’s on the way to becoming one of the greatest in this league.
I’m not surprised that he left Chelsea because it’s very competitive. To get his confidence back like he has now, he had to go and play for a team like Everton where he can play a lot and where if you don’t play well in one game you will play the second one.
At Chelsea it is very difficult because if you don’t perform you’re dropped and you’re not going to play many games.
To play like he is now you need the confidence of the manager and with Roberto Martinez he’s got it.
He also said that Lukaku is seeing the benefits of improving his all-around game, especially his technique and strength.
Technically he still had a lot to work on when he first signed for Chelsea.
When we were training he was often on his own, working on the ball and he’s got his reward for all that now.
I texted him three weeks ago when he did gave that pass to Arouna Kone with his left foot. I told him [you’ve really made it] the day you do this with your right foot!
He also recalls the moment when Lukaku told him that he idolised him as a child when the two played together at Chelsea.
I remember one day he said to me: ‘Didi, you don’t know, I’m a big fan of yours since you were playing for Marseille. I can tell you which boots you were wearing in this game and this game.
I was like, thank you, thank you, but now you’re here so forget about it.
Lukaku’s spell at Chelsea wasn’t exactly fruitful, he rarely featured for the first team and was loaned out twice, to West Bromwich Albion and Everton.
The 22-year-old Belgian has scored eight goals in his last eight games for the Blues, he now has 52 Premier League goals to his name and has taken his all-round game to a new level in recent weeks.
Evertonians will be hoping Lukaku can fire the Toffeemen to the Capital One Cup semi-final on Tuesday, when they face Middlesborough at the Riverside stadium.
