The Belgian forward made his Premier League debut for the Blues in 2011 against Norwich City…
Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku will don Chelsea's blue shirt after a gap of seven seasons after leaving the club in 2014. The Blues roped him in for a club-record transfer fee of £98 million from Serie A champions Inter Milan this season.
Lukaku had joined Chelsea in 2011 from Anderlecht as a teenager and made his Premier League debut for the club on August 27, 2011. He came on as a substitute replacing Fernando Torres in the 83rd minute. Chelsea had won the tie 3-1 thanks to Jose Bosingwa, Frank Lampard and Juan Mata's strikes.
He played alongside some of the legends of the game on his Premier League debut like John Terry and Frank Lampard. Here, we take a look at who the teammates of Romelu Lukaku were in that particular match and where they are now.
Getty Images1Romelu Lukaku – SubThe Belgian forward joined Chelsea the first time in 2011. After spending one year at the club, he moved to West Bromwich Albion and Everton on loan in the next two seasons. Lukaku played Manchester United from 2017 to 2019 and then at Inter Milan from 2019 to 2021. He returned to Chelsea in August 2021.AdvertisementGetty Images2Nicolas Anelka – Sub
The French forward played at Chelsea for four seasons from 2008-2012. Other than Blues, he has played for European giants like Real Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City and PSG.
Nicolas Anelka spent the final two seasons of his career at ISL side Mumbai City FC (2014 and 2015). In his final season, he had served the Indian club as their player-manager. Before Mumbai City, Anelka had worked as a player cum coach at Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.
From 2018 to 2020, Anelka worked as a youth coach in French club Lille. In 2021, he joined French amateur club Hyeres FC as their sporting director.
Getty3Juan Mata – SubThe Spanish midfielder joined Chelsea in 2011 from Valencia and spent two and a half seasons at the club. He was sold to Manchester United in January 2014 where he is still playing. In July 2021, Mata signed a new one-year contract with the Red Devils.Getty Images4Fernando Torres – FW
The Spanish striker joined Chelsea from Liverpool in January 2011 for £50 million which was a British transfer record at that time. Fernando Torres played at the club till 2015 and in the final year of his contract, he was sent on loan to AC Milan. He later moved to his first club Atletico Madrid where he spent three seasons.
He played in the J-League for Sagan Tosu in the final year of his professional career and retired in 2019. In July 2021, Torres was appointed as the head coach of Atletico Madrid's U19 side.