Eddie Newton reveals why Lukaku didn't make it in his first spell

Romelu Lukaku has often been cited as an example of a world-class player that Chelsea failed to nurture.

But former loan director Eddie Newton has explained that there's another reason the big Belgian was allowed to leave.

"For Lukaku, he wasn’t ready at the time, and I don’t care what anyone says," Newton told Goal.

"He just wasn’t ready to be the main No.9 up front and carry that platform like Didier [Drogba].

"He was always going to be compared to Didier and it wasn’t fair to him at that time."

Lukaku is the only one out of that famed class with Salah and De Bruyne to return to Chelsea and hopefully, the striker can bring more silverware to the club.