Former Chelsea striker, Chris Sutton, has attributed Romelu Lukaku’s lacklustre stint at Chelsea primarily to his own fitness levels, suggesting that the Belgian striker may have failed to maintain the required physical condition for Premier League football.
Despite returning to Stamford Bridge with high expectations in the summer of 2021, Lukaku’s second tenure with the Blues ended prematurely, with the striker departing for Inter Milan after just one season following a reported falling out with former manager Thomas Tuchel.
Sutton, speaking on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast alongside co-host Ian Ladyman, expressed his bewilderment at Lukaku’s downturn in form, particularly after a promising start that saw him score on his debut against Arsenal.
“It’s a bit of a head scratcher really,” Sutton said.
“If you look at Lukaku through patches throughout his career he has been prolific, he has been an enormous handful – he has all the attributes.
“He goes to Chelsea [the second time] and you think “here we go”, he scored in his first game, took all the plaudits away at Arsenal.
“You think this is a really important goal for him – [he] hit the ground running second time around – and then, he just fizzled out.
“I don’t know if he was not in the best condition, in truth, maybe he let himself go a little bit, maybe he lost confidence and he wasn’t the same player – hence heading back to Italy. He’s done well over there and internationally.”