Roberto Martinez believes Romelu Lukaku is still playing his part for Chelsea this season, despite being on loan at Everton.
The Belgian youngster is now in his third season in England, after the Stamford Bridge club paid around £17million to take him from Anderlecht in 2011. However, after struggling to make an impact in his debut season, he spent last term on loan at West Bromwich Albion and this time round at Goodison Park.
Just as he did last season with the Baggies, Lukaku is enjoying a superb campaign with the Toffees, with eight goals to his name from 12 appearances. Ironically, such a return is exactly what Chelsea need at the moment, with the likes of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o all struggling to find the net.
This has resulted in accusations that Jose Mourinho made a huge error of judgment when sending the 20-year-old out on loan, despite the Blues keeping pace with Arsenal and Liverpool at the head of the table. However, Everton boss Martine sees it another way, and believes Lukaku is still helping his parent club.
“Chelsea are delighted with Romelu Lukaku. He can’t play against them, and the other week he helped take two points off Arsenal, and three points off Manchester United,” said the Spaniard. “If you’re Chelsea, that’s perfect.”
Whilst Martinez makes a valid point, how Mourinho must have wished he could call upon Lukaku on Wednesday night when Eto’o, and then Ba, both drew blanks at Sunderland. Even the goal Chelsea did score was an own-goal, and this wasn’t enough as Sunderland beat them 2-1 in the League Cup quarter-final.
