Bridge Banter: New Blue Lukaku must be patient (From Your Local Guardian)

Bridge Banter: New Blue Lukaku must be patient

1:19pm Tuesday 9th August 2011 in Chelsea

Being dubbed ‘the new Drogba’ is something that can weigh heavily on a teenager.

After all, there have been enough ‘new George Bests’ over the years to fill a practice pitch.

But new Blues signing Romelu Lukaku even looks like a young Didier and is, bewilderingly, taller than Chelsea’s popular and productive forward.

The £11million capture from Anderlecht is 6ft 4in (1.93m for the imperially challenged) – an inch and a half more than the 33-year-old striker, and only an inch shorter than goalkeeping skyscraper Petr Cech, and as the new forward has only just turned 18 there’s a chance he may still be growing!

He won’t start against Stoke on Sunday, but there’s a fighting chance that he will be brought on as a sub against West Brom on August 20, or Norwich on August 27, to give him a flavour of playing at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are now awash with up-front talent after returning loanee Dan Sturridge netted twice in the Blues’ 3-1 friendly win against Rangers in Glasgow last weekend.

Add in Fernando Torres, Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda and the new teenager, and it’s getting to be a challenge to find them all pegs for their kit.

Lukaku has scored 33 goals in 73 Anderlecht appearances (he made his debut for the club less than a fortnight after his 16th birthday), and already has 10 full Belgian caps.

The new signing has ratcheted up expectation, although Manchester United’s impressive comeback in Sunday’s Community Shield demonstrates how tough life may be at the top this season.

Yury Zhirkov, who made 49 appearances for Chelsea as a left-winger and left back, has left the club to return to his native Russia. Despite sharing citizenship with the Blues’ owner, Zhirkov never fully settled, and hinted at frustration about lack of opportunities on more than one occasion.

The hope is that Lukaku will remain patient, especially as it will be difficult to keep young Mr Sturridge out of the picture on the form he is enjoying.