Mourinho talks up Lukaku's chances

Romelu Lukaku has scored two goals in two games. He assisted Kevin de Bruyne on a magnificent goal. And he's looked pretty good while doing all that. Not spectacular, mind, but a handful, capable of bullying opposition defenders and exploiting the ensuing chaos. No wonder Jose Mourinho's saying nice things about him.

Of course [Lukaku can challenge Ba and Torres] It’s up to the kid, but he’s open and intelligent enough to learn the kind of movement we want.

He played the role with the right movement. We don’t want the striker just aiming between the central defenders, but making movements, sometimes between the midfield or moving wide.

-Source: Mail.

I mentioned the movement thing when I discussed why Wayne Rooney might be attractive to Mourinho, and I also mentioned that it looked as though Lukaku was starting to move past the point where he's 'just' a centre forward. It's instructive to see how much more comfortable Lukaku seemed to be in wide positions than Ba did, beating fullbacks easily and then sending dangerous-looking crosses scything into the box. He certainly needs some work -- improving his technical ability, especially his first touch, is a must -- but there's potential for Lukaku to turn into a great all-around forward rather than just a pacy, strong goalscorer.

That said, I don't think that Mourinho was saying that he'd be comfortable starting the season with Lukaku as his main man, despite how the papers are spinning it. There's a reason that he's hoping the Blues sign Wayne Rooney, after all. But it's clear to see that Mourinho thinks that Lukaku can be developed into something pretty special, even if he's not going to make any decisions based on a few weeks of preseason.

Just don't call him the new Drogba.