Chelsea loanee in race against time to prove fitness to make Belgium’s World Cup squad

Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku in race against time to make the Belgium squad for the World Cup

According to the Mirror, Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku is in the race against time to prove his fitness before Belgium manager Roberto Martinez announces the final 26-man squad for the World Cup on Thursday.

Lukaku, who has been on loan at Inter Milan after moving out from Chelsea in the summer, has only played 29 minutes of football since August due to a recurring hamstring injury.

National team boss Martinez has made it clear that the striker needs to be fit for the country’s opening game of the World Cup against Canada on December 23.

Here’s what the former Everton and Wigan Athletic manager said (h/t Mirror):

“For the moment, he is not ready to play. He is in the hands of the doctors. We have experience of this situation. We had the same with Vincent Kompany before the World Cup in 2018. He was injured just before the squad announcement. The situation is quite similar.

“The decision will be taken on Thursday just before the squad is announced and will be related to the three matches in the group stage of the World Cup. If he is ready to play in one of those three matches, he is a player we need in our team. If he can’t, he will not be picked. We are working day by day.”

Lukaku hasn’t had a productive spell since leaving I Nerazzurri for a reunion at the Bridge. After a very good 2020/21 season with Inter where he scored 24 goals in 36 league appearances, he has scored nine in 30 league appearances since the start of the 2021/22 campaign.

The 29-year-old’s return to Chelsea last season did not go to plan as he struggled to make his mark at Stamford Bridge. Moving back to Inter on loan has not been rosy due to the injury situation.

However, the former Manchester United striker has good experience playing in World Cups. In the 2018 edition in Russia, he scored four goals and assisted one in six appearances, including an important assist against Brazil in the quarter-final.

So, Belgium could do with having Lukaku in their squad for this tournament. His experience, link-up with the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and just the feel of scoring big goals would be a big miss if he doesn’t report the recovery before the squad announcement.

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For Chelsea’s sake, we wouldn’t mind the 29-year-old having a good World Cup, which may raise his price in the market that can be used by the Blues to sell him in the coming transfer windows. If not that, perhaps it convinces the Blues to give him a third bite at the cherry… unlikely but not impossible.