5 Reasons Why Chelsea Should Have Kept Romelu Lukaku

4. An Ageing Drogba

The return of Didier Drogba has nice sentimental value for Chelsea supporters. From vilified cheat to media darling in the space of eight years, the Premier League truly came to love the Ivorian superstar for what he was. However, the fact that he has been brought back in the twilight of his career, at 36 years of age, screams of Mourinho refusing to let go of the past. The glorious era of Mourinho€™s €˜untouchables€™ has come and gone, and judging by the Portuguese manager€™s recent forays into the transfer market since his return last summer, one would have assumed he had realised that. One would suspect that Petr Cech has been ousted from between the posts after ten years of service with the arrival of Thibaut Courtois, and Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole €“ pillories of Mourinho€™s glorious era €“ have since departed for ventures overseas. But the creaking bones of an ageing Ivorian is back on the scene. Drogba is no longer the powerhouse that struck fear into the hearts of defenders across the continent. He is now the miserly and frail ghost that inhabited the Stamford Bridge turf on what was supposed to be a triumphant goal-scoring return for Galatasaray last March. His final season at Chelsea is remembered for his Champions League final heroics, and rightly so, but people forget that he could still only muster five league goals from 24 appearances. Perhaps Mourinho brought him in as a domineering voice in the changing room €“ to mould him into a commandeering general. Drogba€™s return ultimately signalled the end of Lukaku€™s ill-fated tenure at Chelsea, rather than providing the apprenticeship that many had predicted. Unprepared to perform a €˜mini-me€™ double-act, Lukaku quickly bolted in the direction of Goodison Park. By October, it will become increasingly apparent that the former Anderlecht trainee has surpassed the Chelsea legend, and if Drogba€™s most memorable contribution on his return is hustling Lukaku out the door, his return will have had a shadow cast across it. With Lukaku having made way for a man 15 years his senior, it is simply a ludicrous case of long-term planning gone awry.