Chelsea's decision to re-sign Romelu Lukaku for nearly £100million now looks like a "mistake", according to Glen Johnson - and one that could make the summer transfer window tough for Thomas Tuchel.
Lukaku joined Chelsea for £97.5million last August, a decade after he had left Stamford Bridge for more first-team action at Everton.
The Belgium international then signed for Manchester United in 2017 before leaving the Premier League for Inter Milan in 2019, winning Serie A with Antonio Conte as coach in 2021.
Lukaku scored 64 goals in 95 games for the Nerazzurri, but pushed Inter to allow him to rejoin Chelsea last summer for a club-record fee of £97.5m.
The move initially seemed a match made in heaven, with Lukaku returning as the final piece of the jigsaw for a Chelsea side lacking a world-class leading man - but a deal proudly touted as a great homecoming is already in danger of turning sour.
The 28-year-old has scored eight goals in 24 appearances for Chelsea this season, but has been hampered by injury problems and a lack of form while struggling to get to grips with Tuchel's system.
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Lukaku laid bare his frustrations in an extraordinary interview with Sky Italia in December, stating he was "not happy" with the situation in west London - and was soon forced to backtrack with an apology to Blues fans after being dropped.
Tuchel has made no secret of his recent frustrations with Lukaku, calling for the striker to offer more link-up play and movement when leading the line.
Lukaku was signed with the intention for Chelsea to build on their Champions League triumph last season and push for the Premier League title this term, but the Blues languish 10 points behind leaders Manchester City having played a game more.
Goals have been a problem as Tuchel's men have drawn three of their last five League games, and former Chelsea right-back Johnson believes that while the big-money move for Lukaku currently looks costly, the club must come up with a solution - especially if Tuchel is going to convince Roman Abramovich to make any more expensive outlays in the next transfer window.
"Looking at it now, it does look like a mistake; not so much because of the player himself... but Liverpool just signed (Luis) Diaz who's a goal machine for the third of the money, Johnson told the Mirror, in an interview courtesy of Squawka .
"I think for £100m and the way that it's going at the moment, of course it looks like a mistake, but I still think Lukaku's a good player, I'm just not so sure he suits the way Chelsea play.
"Of course he can turn it around [but] the last thing any Chelsea fan wants to hear is that you've signed a striker for £100m and he's struggling to score."
Asked if Chelsea need to look at another striker this summer, Johnson suggested it may be tough for Tuchel to persuade club owner Abramovich to sanction another big-money move if the Lukaku deal continues to backfire.
"It's a strange one - put it this way, if you're the manager and you go to Roman and ask for another £100m, I wouldn't want to be in that boardroom!
"Look, they knew what they were signing. We all know what Lukaku is good at, and we know what he's not good at, so there's no surprises there. So they obviously bought him knowing what he's good at, so they need to play that way for him.
"He's not a quick striker who's going to stand... and then fly past two or three players and score - he's a big, strong striker that needs people around him.
"They knew the system they wanted to play when they signed him, so you need to try to get to that as quick as possible. He is a good player, but they seem to be playing all differently, it's hard to put your finger on it."
Given Chelsea's embarrassment of riches in attack, Johnson argues that Tuchel's supporting cast are supporting Lukaku - but the coach still needs to unlock his team's potential.
"I think they're doing enough," Johnson added. "Look at [Hakim] Ziyech against Tottenham, he was unbelievable. That wordlie (goal) for example, that's stuff that he can do, and I don't think Lukaku can do that.
"The way he plays, he has that control in certain games - you need the players to do that, but there's times he's whipping the ball in and Lukaku's not getting there... it's really hard because Ziyech is obviously a good player; Hudson-Odoi, I think he will be a top, top player, but I just think they need to find a way to play together because at the minute, it all looks disjointed for me."
Interview courtesy of Squawka .
