Lukaku scored his second goal in two pre-season games in Chelsea’s 4-1 win against Malaysia and, although Rooney remains his primary transfer target, Mourinho already regards the 20-year-old Belgian as a viable option to spearhead his attack against Hull City on Aug 18.
Mourinho has also been encouraged by the training performances of Demba Ba and will start him against Indonesia on Thursday, with Torres, the club’s £50 million record signing, not due back for pre-season training until July 28.
Asked if Lukaku was now challenging Torres, Mourinho said: “Of course. Lukaku started the first two matches and Demba will start in Jakarta. They are learning to play the way I want. Every manager has his own ideas.
“Lukaku had a fantastic manager last season but Steve [Clarke] is Steve.
“I am me and West Bromwich Albion is not Chelsea.. It’s up to the kid but he’s open and intelligent to learn the kind of movement we want. The role he played was 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.”
After creating a spectacularly finished chance for Kevin de Bruyne, calmly scoring himself and constantly provoking panic in the Malaysia defence, it was inevitable that Lukaku should be compared to Didier Drogba. His 17 Premier League goals last season at West Brom also mark him out as a precocious talent. Mourinho, though, believes that it would be unfair to make the Drogba analogy.
“We have to respect Didier because he is unique in Chelsea’s history, and we have to respect Lukaku,” he said. “The best way to do that is not compare him to a legend in Chelsea’s history. Leave Didier where he is, at the top of Chelsea’s history, and leave Lukaku to work hard. The kid is good.”
Mourinho has been delighted by the pre-season performances of another Belgian, De Bruyne, but there were fears that he had suffered a serious injury. De Bruyne injured his right knee in scoring Chelsea’s second goal yesterday and was taken off on a stretcher.
There will be further assessment today but the initial prognosis was positive and Mourinho hopes that he will continue to play a full part in the club’s preparations for the season.
“When he was on the floor and asking for a change, everyone on the bench thought the worst,” said Mourinho. “The first assessment by the doctor is that it is not ligaments for sure and, if it’s something in the meniscus, it has to be a very small injury. We believe it’s not an important injury and hopefully it isn’t because the kid is a fantastic player and showing to you match after match, and showing to me in training, that he’s going to be a key man.”
De Bruyne last night posted a further update on Twitter: “Knee and ankle feeling OK for the moment. Always stay positive. Waiting for tomorrow. Then we will know more.”
De Bruyne put in an accurate cross to create Chelsea’s first goal for Bertrand Traore, a 17-year-old midfielder from Burkina Faso who has greatly impressed Mourinho during his six-week trial.
Traore also had a trial last year with the club’s academy and, after studying footage of his performances, Mourinho invited him to join the club during this tour of Asia.
Chelsea will offer Traore, in England on a student visa, a contract when he turns 18 in September. Traore will then almost certainly go on loan until he obtains his work permit. “Those are the rules in England and we have to accept them,” said Mourinho. “We’ll have to wait until he becomes 18 to try to get the permit for him to stay in England. If it’s not possible, we have to let him go on loan somewhere. For a 17-year-old boy, sooner or later, the committee has to give him a permit to play in England.”
“We have to respect Didier because he is unique in Chelsea’s history, and we have to respect Lukaku,” he said. “The best way to do that is not compare him to a legend in Chelsea’s history. Leave Didier where he is, at the top of Chelsea’s history, and leave Lukaku to work hard. The kid is good.”
Mourinho has been delighted by the pre-season performances of another Belgian, De Bruyne, but there were fears that he had suffered a serious injury. De Bruyne injured his right knee in scoring Chelsea’s second goal yesterday and was taken off on a stretcher.
There will be further assessment today but the initial prognosis was positive and Mourinho hopes that he will continue to play a full part in the club’s preparations for the season.
“When he was on the floor and asking for a change, everyone on the bench thought the worst,” said Mourinho. “The first assessment by the doctor is that it is not ligaments for sure and, if it’s something in the meniscus, it has to be a very small injury. We believe it’s not an important injury and hopefully it isn’t because the kid is a fantastic player and showing to you match after match, and showing to me in training, that he’s going to be a key man.”
De Bruyne last night posted a further update on Twitter: “Knee and ankle feeling OK for the moment. Always stay positive. Waiting for tomorrow. Then we will know more.”
De Bruyne put in an accurate cross to create Chelsea’s first goal for Bertrand Traore, a 17-year-old midfielder from Burkina Faso who has greatly impressed Mourinho during his six-week trial.
Traore also had a trial last year with the club’s academy and, after studying footage of his performances, Mourinho invited him to join the club during this tour of Asia.
Chelsea will offer Traore, in England on a student visa, a contract when he turns 18 in September. Traore will then almost certainly go on loan until he obtains his work permit. “Those are the rules in England and we have to accept them,” said Mourinho. “We’ll have to wait until he becomes 18 to try to get the permit for him to stay in England. If it’s not possible, we have to let him go on loan somewhere. For a 17-year-old boy, sooner or later, the committee has to give him a permit to play in England.”
