Lukaku backtracks on Chelsea exit comments, talks about his development at Everton

Last week we had some quote indicating that Romelu Lukaku was a bit unhappy with his situation at Chelsea, and that he might be thinking about leaving after the World Cup. Predictably, he backtracked a bit on those comments with some quotes that The Mirror has today:

"I only know one thing and that is that, in my opinion, Chelsea are still the biggest club in England. And they have a very, very good manager!  I have a contract with Chelsea after this summer and I am not focusing on any move to Atletico."

Lukaku also had some comments about his development this season, and working with Roberto Martinez:

"Let me say that I am now the complete striker. I never thought I was a target man, a No.9 who could play with his back to the goal. I always wanted to run at defenders. That is still a great quality, but now I can do both. I love playing as a real striker in the box now.’’

"I have been playing all season for a team which has more than 60 percent of the time possession of the ball. Technically I have been improving as a player. I play for a manager who makes his team play really good football and I don’t have to chase the ball all the time. Getting the ball so often close to the goal becomes a natural thing.

"My concentration is better than ever on finishing, rather than on running with the ball. I am absolutely convinced that moving to Everton was the best step in my career. When you feel everything is working out, it makes you so relaxed and happy as a player in big matches.’’

Hopefully, Lukaku is sticking around with Chelsea next season, or at worst renewing his contract before heading out on loan. I'm not entirely certain his game has developed as far as he thinks it has, but he's certainly shown signs of improvement this season, and there's little doubt he'd be a better option at this point than any of the trio we had last year.

Regardless, it's nice to see Lukaku clarifying his comments a bit, even if it might just be damage control.