Romelu Lukaku has been backed to succeed at Chelsea next season by club legend and advisor Petr Cech, despite the striker's desire to leave this summer.
Lukaku rejoined Chelsea from Inter for a club-record fee of £98 million ($122m) last summer, but has been tipped to return to San Siro after a disappointing first year back at Stamford Bridge.
Cech, however, has suggested the 29-year-old will remain with the west London side, highlighting that his struggles with injury and Covid-19 explain his poor performance over the course of the 2021-22 campaign.
What did Cech say about Lukaku?
"I personally believe Romelu Lukaku will have a great season," Chelsea's technical and performance advisor and former goalkeeper told Sky Sports News.
"Last season we saw how strong he can be when he came. Unfortunately, the long term injury he sustained against Villa slowed everything down, and then he had Covid-19 as well.
"We could see towards the end of the season when Romelu Lukaku was fit and ready to go how strong he is. We had a peculiar season with the Covid-19 issues around Christmas. He was one of those players affected.
"I have full confidence Romelu Lukaku will bounce back and have a strong season."
Will Lukaku leave Chelsea?
GOAL reported on Wednesday that the Blues are willing to let Lukaku leave on loan ahead of the coming season.
Inter are the favourites to land him again, but are reluctant to pay a large fee to sign him outright.
The Nerazzurri would have to pay around €25 million (£21m/$27m) to get him on loan, while the Belgium international is willing to accept a significant pay cut to escape the Stamford Bridge club.
Lukaku, who returned to Chelsea last year after two years at Inter, made 44 appearances for Thomas Tuchel's team last term and scored 15 goals.