Thierry Henry has raised a major question mark over Chelsea’s decision to sign Romelu Lukaku after the striker’s latest failure to make an appearance off the bench during their Champions League tie with Lille.
Criticism had been hounding Lukaku over the recent weeks for not being able to live up to the expectations that he had capably set during his impressive tenure at Inter Milan notching 47 league goals in two seasons.
Arsenal legend Henry is the latest to weigh in with his verdict, saying that the £97M signing was never a right fit for Chelsea’s style of play and seriously queried their decision to buy the attacker.
When asked to comment on Lukaku’s struggles at Chelsea, Henry told CBS: ‘Right from the start I raised a question to myself, would he fit into this team?
‘As a coach when you go and get Lukaku, you will have to make him adapt to how you play, or you change your way to suit him. I didn’t think that would happen.
‘For Rom to adapt to the way Chelsea play, it takes time, it’s not an easy one.
‘Is it normal that he only has seven touches [against Crystal Palace]? No, that’s also not normal, regardless if the coach likes you or not. That shouldn’t happen.
‘They need to move forward on that but it’s a tough one to read. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know how that happens in 90 minutes. But what’s the solution?
‘The solution is for him to find a solution to make sure he can adapt to the way they play.
‘They like to press, to be active and to change the front three. He likes to stay in the middle so it makes it very difficult for him to adapt to the situation.
‘But again, why did you go and get him?’
Former Inter Milan striker Lukaku has been awkwardly turning in underwhelming performances for the Blues in recent weeks, and this sudden major drop in performance clearly showed in the Blues’ 1-0 win against Crystal Palace last week with the Belgian managing only seven touches of the ball.
Chelsea next travel to France in March for the second leg of their Champions League tie in their efforts to defend their European crown.