Romelu Lukaku sounds out his thanks to Jose Mourinho

After Romelu Lukaku's 17-goal season on loan at West Bromwich Albion in the 2012/13 season, many backed him to walk right into the Chelsea side that sported a misfiring attack of Fernando Torres and Demba Ba. However, with the second coming of Jose Mourinho also came a third striker in the form of Samuel Eto'o, that made Lukaku wonder just what was happening at Chelsea.

Desperate for regular playing time with the FIFA World Cup around the corner, Jose let Lukaku move out on loan again, to Everton. We all know how things went after that..

Lukaku remains thankful to Jose for letting him leave when he expressed his desire to leave so, as he articulated when speaking before the manager received the sack.

"I wanted to play and get minutes under my belt. I never got the chance to say it but I would say thank you to Jose Mourinho."

"I had one conversation with him a few days before I left and I told him I wanted to go and I think he saw in my eyes that I really needed to play because it was the year of the World Cup."

"He was the one who gave me the green light to go."

- Romelu Lukaku

Now, the Kraken is increasingly establishing himself as a striker in the Premier League who will bag at least 15 goals per season, while our strike force has gone back to firing blanks. That transfer saga seems half a world away now..