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Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has said that buying Romelu Lukaku is not a priority this season, and instead laid stress on finding the right balance between the existing striking options he had at the club and getting a good pre-season under his belt. Chelsea have been rumoured to be interested in Anderlecht player Lukaku for the past few weeks and were even supposed to have put in abid for the player, who is rated at 22.5 million Euros.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Chelsea’s match against Malaysia XI in pre-season, Villas-Boas said that it was more important to find an amicable equilibrium between his current strikers like Salomon Kalou, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Nicholas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge.
He said-
“Lukaku had a magnificent season in Belgium. We are pondering every decision because we don’t want to go into the market and make mistakes.
“We have plenty of availability in terms of forwards who can play in different positions – with Anelka, with Kalou, Didier, Torres and Sturridge.
“This is the reality at the moment of our squad. We need to find the correct balance and this is why pre-season is important.
“On that decision, to bring in another forward, at the moment I don’t think we will.”
Lukaku had an amazing season last time round, scoring 16 goals in the Belgian League, and was often likened to Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba. Villas-Boas confessed that he found the young forward impressive, but laid more emphasis on getting his current team to gel better rather than goung out for new signings. Chelsea started their pre-season in underwhelming fashion, winning against Malaysia XI 1-0 through a Drogba goal that replays showed had not crossed the line.
It remains to be seen whether Chelsea up their offer and procure Lukaku’s services, or if Drogba and co. satisfy the Portuguese boss enough for him to not look for other striking options. Stay tuned for more in this regard.
