Romelu Lukaku initially left Chelsea back in 2013, a shadow of the man that has given Goodison Park something to cheer this season.
He had a taste of life at Stamford Bridge when Jose Mourinho tried to implement him into the first team squad, but after a disastrous penalty shoot-out against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup, Lukaku knew he had to move on.
The striker was hungry for success, a self-driven character that never hide his intentions to be the best or become a better player. The Belgian knew, that despite his ambitions to do well at Chelsea, he would have to move away to become that player the club wanted him to be.
Three years on, Lukaku has consistently bettered himself, year on year and is now being linked with a return to Stamford Bridge with Chelsea finding themselves in need of some fresh blood in a dejected and beaten squad.
With no buy-back clause in sight, the Blues and incoming manager, Antonio Conte could be forced to pay up to £65m for the Belgian striker who is in hot-demand with the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich reportedly interested in the former Blue.
Despite years away from the club on loan and joining Everton permanently, Lukaku remains that same self-driven character that left Stamford Bridge. He now looks ready to take the next step in his career and is widely expected to leave Goodison Park this summer in an attempt to better his career.
Chelsea may not be able to offer the striker Champions League football next season, but there are plenty of reasons as to why he could be the perfect signing for Conte this summer.
Despite not even being at the club, he already wants to do well there. The boyhood Chelsea fan has always expressed his desire to be successful at Stamford Bridge, even from when he joined the club to when he left.
Everton would command a huge fee for Lukaku, which could naturally lead to pressure at his next club, wherever that may be, but that might not be the case a Chelsea. He would arrive with a point to prove, regardless of his price tag.
He would relish the opportunity to prove those who doubted him wrong, to prove those who wrote him off wrong. He has always held that type of attitude and that wouldn’t change. With 18 Premier League goals to his name this season, Lukaku finished the fourth highest scorer in the league, grabbing six more goals than Diego Costa.
That attitude is something Chelsea fans have been craving all season. In a year where the Stamford Bridge faithful have had to endure heartless and haphazard performances, a player like Lukaku, fits the mould of what the supporters want to see from a Chelsea player.
There may be more established strikers on the market valued below the £65m that Everton are asking for Lukaku, but there are plenty of positives about a possible Stamford Bridge return for the Belgian.
Any deal to bring him back could mean the departure of Spanish striker, Costa, who has found form in the second half of the season, but remains to be linked with moves away. It’ll be a big decision to Chelsea to make and a gamble none the less. It could, though, be a gamble that works in their favour.
Over the years, the Chelsea hierachy have struggled to replace the spearhead of the Blues attack from the last decade, Didier Drogba. Back when Lukaku was first brought in, it looked as if it were to be a like-for-like swap, but the Blues decide to revert back to the Ivorian in 2014 and sell the Belgian.
Costa was brought in but it hasn’t always gone to plan with his temperament and lack of form at the beginning of this season. Bringing Lukaku back now, after the way he had developed his game at Everton could be the closest Chelsea have come to replacing the iconic, Drogba.
