Romelu Lukaku's Premier League debut for Chelsea - Who were his teammates and where are they now?

The Belgian forward made his Premier League debut for the Blues in 2011 against Norwich City...

Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku will don Chelsea's blue shirt after a gap of seven seasons after leaving the club in 2014. The Blues roped him in for a club-record transfer fee of £98 million from Serie A champions Inter Milan this season.

Lukaku had joined Chelsea in 2011 from Anderlecht as a teenager and made his Premier League debut for the club on August 27, 2011. He came on as a substitute replacing Fernando Torres in the 83rd minute. Chelsea had won the tie 3-1 thanks to Jose Bosingwa, Frank Lampard and Juan Mata's strikes.

He played alongside some of the legends of the game on his Premier League debut like John Terry and Frank Lampard. Here, we take a look at who the teammates of Romelu Lukaku were in that particular match and where they are now.

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1Romelu Lukaku - Sub
The Belgian forward joined Chelsea the first time in 2011. After spending one year at the club, he moved to West Bromwich Albion and Everton on loan in the next two seasons. Lukaku played Manchester United from 2017 to 2019 and then at Inter Milan from 2019 to 2021. He returned to Chelsea in August 2021.

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2Nicolas Anelka - Sub
The French forward played at Chelsea for four seasons from 2008-2012. Other than Blues, he has played for European giants like Real Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City and PSG.
Nicolas Anelka spent the final two seasons of his career at ISL side Mumbai City FC (2014 and 2015). In his final season, he had served the Indian club as their player-manager. Before Mumbai City, Anelka had worked as a player cum coach at Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua.
From 2018 to 2020, Anelka worked as a youth coach in French club Lille. In 2021, he joined French amateur club Hyeres FC as their sporting director.
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3Juan Mata - Sub
The Spanish midfielder joined Chelsea in 2011 from Valencia and spent two and a half seasons at the club. He was sold to Manchester United in January 2014 where he is still playing. In July 2021, Mata signed a new one-year contract with the Red Devils.

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4Fernando Torres - FW
The Spanish striker joined Chelsea from Liverpool in January 2011 for £50 million which was a British transfer record at that time. Fernando Torres played at the club till 2015 and in the final year of his contract, he was sent on loan to AC Milan. He later moved to his first club Atletico Madrid where he spent three seasons.
He played in the J-League for Sagan Tosu in the final year of his professional career and retired in 2019. In July 2021, Torres was appointed as the head coach of Atletico Madrid's U19 side.
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5Didier Drogba - FW
Another certified Chelsea legend, Didier Drogba joined the club in 2004 from Marseille and played until 2012. After that, he went to the Chinese Super League played for Shanghai Shenhua before joining Turkish giants Galatasaray. In 2014, Drogba returned to Chelsea and played for one season. He last played for US second division club Phoenix Rising before retiring in 2018.
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6Florent Malouda - LM
The French winger played at Chelsea from 2007 to 2013. He also played in the Indian Super League (ISL) for two seasons (2015, 2016), representing Delhi Dynamos. He last played for Luxembourg-based club FC Differdange 03 where he joined in January 2018. At the end of the season, he retired from professional football.
Malouda had joined FC Zurich in February 2019 as a first-team coach but he was sacked within just two months of joining the club.
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7John Obi Mikel - CM
The Nigerian midfielder played at Chelsea for 11 seasons joining them in 2006. After leaving the Blues in 2017, he moved to China to join their top-tier club Tianjin TEDA. He later played for Middlesbrough and Stoke City. In July 2021, John Obi Mikel joined Kuwait SC.
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8Frank Lampard - CM
The legendary midfielder joined Chelsea in 2001 from West Ham United and stayed at the club for 13 seasons. After leaving the club in the summer of 2014, Lampard signed a two-year contract with MLS side New York City FC. As the football season in the US did not start until January 2015, Lampard joined Manchester City on a short-term deal at the beginning of the 2014/15 season. He retired from football in 2016.
After retirement, Lampard joined Championship side Derby County in 2018 as their head coach. In 2019, he returned to Chelsea as the club's manager. In January 2021, Lampard parted ways with the Blues as Thomas Tuchel replaced him at the helm.
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9Ramires - RM
The Brazilian midfielder played at Chelsea for six seasons from 2010 to 2016. He then spent the next three seasons at Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning. In 2019, he joined Brazilian club Palmeiras on a four-year deal but his contract was terminated in November 2020.
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10Ashley Cole - LB
After graduating from Arsenal's youth system, Ashley Cole was promoted to their senior side in 1999. He remained at the club till 2006 after which he joined Chelsea where he spent the next eight seasons.
He also played for AS Roma and La Galaxy and in 2019 after spending six months with Derby County, Cole announced his retirement from professional football.
After retirement, Cole worked as an academy coach at Derby County and Chelsea. In July 2021, the former England international was appointed as an assistant coach to Lee Carsley in the England U21 side.
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11John Terry - CB
The Chelsea and English football legend was promoted to the senior team of the Blues from their academy in 1998 and since then remained at the club for the next 19 years of his career. In between, he was sent on loan in 2000 to Nottingham Forest.
After leaving Chelsea, Terry joined then Championship side Aston Villa in 2017 and spent a season at the club before retiring from professional football. Since 2018, Terry worked as assistant manager at Aston Villa before leaving the club before the start of the 2021-22 season.
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12Branislav Ivanovic - CB
The Serbian defender joined Chelsea in 2008 and played for the club for nine seasons winning every major trophy. After leaving Chelsea in 2017, Ivanovic joined Zenit Saint Petersburg where he played for three seasons. Last season he joined Premier League side West Bromwich Albion. He left the club in May 2021 and is currently without any club.
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13Jose Bosingwa - RB
Bosingwa played for FC Porto for five seasons after which he joined Chelsea where he spent four years. He won two FA Cups and the Champions League in 2012 with Chelsea. He also won the Champions League with FC Porto, back in 2004.
He last played for Turkish top tier club Trabzonspor in 2016 after which he retired from professional football.
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14Henrique Hilario - GK
The Portuguese goalkeeper joined Chelsea in 2006 after playing several top Portuguese clubs namely Porto and CD Nacional. He stayed with the Blues for eight seasons before retiring in 2014.
In 2016, Hilario returned to Chelsea, this time joining the club as a goalkeeping coach, a post he holds till date.