The summer departure of Didier Drogba looked tailor-made for Romelu Lukaku to barge his way past Fernando Torres in the Chelsea pecking order and justify the club’s decision to splash out £10m for his services in August 2011. It didn’t quite transpire like that, though. In spite of a lack of forward options, Roberto Di Matteo shipped Lukaku off on a season-long loan to West Brom and kept faith in the misfiring Spaniard in a move that played some part in his subsequent downfall.
Handed just two starts in the opening 10 Gameweeks by Steve Clarke, Lukaku’s Fantasy prospects looked initially bleak, with the Baggies boss tending to afford him minutes from the bench late on as first-choice forward Shane Long started to tire. Indeed, it wasn’t until Gameweeks 18-19 that Lukaku finally earned two consecutive starts for his new club – a decision which, when you analyse the statistics, seems as baffling as Di Matteo’s decision to send him to the midlands in the first place.
Lukaku has started 12 games for West Brom, with 13 of his 25 appearances coming from the bench. Focussing on his first XI performances, he has returned nine goals, two assists and 14 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) bonus points over those 12 matches – a highly impressive 6.3 points per start. Such has been his level of consistency, Lukaku has either scored, assisted or returned bonus points in 11 of those 12 fixtures; the only blank coming in Gameweek 25 when he was sacrificed just after half-time as the Baggies were reduced to 10 men at home to Spurs.
Bearing in mind he has now started eight of the last 10 when available (he was ineligible to face his parent club last weekend), Lukaku seems to have edged ahead of Long as Clarke’s preferred forward. Although there remain slight concerns over Clarke’s propensity to rotate his front men in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Long’s lack of form certainly helps the Belgian’s cause – the former has failed to produce any returns in each of his last eight starts and has registered a single goal from Gameweek 14 onwards. With his side now past the magic 40 point safety mark, Clarke even shifted to a 4-4-2 in the previous home game – Lukaku duly obliged with a brace and maximum bonus, returning his highest haul of the season.
Up next for the Baggies is a home clash with Swansea this weekend before a couple of road trips take them to Stoke and West Ham – the type of bruising encounters Lukaku is likely to thrive upon. After the Upton Park encounter, Clarke’s side then face home clashes against Arsenal, Newcastle and Wigan in the following five, in addition to a trip to Southampton; certainly, the schedule looks enticing for those eyeing up the 6.5 priced FPL forward.
With the likes of James Morrison also struggling to replicate his early season form, Lukaku seems the one Baggies player we can rely upon to produce the points on a regular basis. Granted, there are other forwards in the mid-price range who look equally appealing, with Rickie Lambert and Christian Benteke the stand out alternatives, but Lukaku’s outstanding consistency may just well seal the deal for some.
