Chelsea search for a striker while players they left in the cold dominate Europe

Romelu Lukaku, while still contracted to the Blues, hasn't played for the Premier League club since the 2021/22 campaign after spending time on loan with Inter Milan and Roma.

Since moving to the Stadio Olymipico this term, Lukaku has scored 16 goals in 30 appearances, including a rather impressive six in seven in the Europa League.

His latest effort came in the 1-1 draw with Feyenoord on Thursday night, a strike that has taken his tally to 26 in the competition.

It means Lukaku has 17 goals in his last 18 Europa League appearances.

The Belgian forward is now level with former Athletic Bilbao star Aritz Aduriz in third spot in the competition's all-time goal record.

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He is also top of the goalscoring charts for this season's Europa League campaign alongside Brighton's Joao Pedro and ex-Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Aubameyang joined fellow former Blues forward Radamel Falcao as the joint-highest goalscorer in Europa League history with his 30th strike in Marseille's 2-2 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday.

The former Arsenal star spent the 2022/23 season at Stamford Bridge, but failed to impress with just three goals in 21 games.

Both players fell into the infamous 'Chelsea striker curse' category, finding themselves ultimately left in the cold and forced out.

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Meanwhile, the jury is still out on Chelsea's current first-choice striker, Nicolas Jackson, who has seven top-flight goals since joining in the summer.

Cole Palmer is often forced to fill the void up front and the former Man City star has been involved in 16 of the Blues' 41 goals in the Premier League.

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While Aubameyang left for good, there is still the slim possibility of Lukaku reigniting his career at the club, although he has suggested all bridges are burned in recent interviews.

The 30-year-old is set to return to west London this summer following the end of his loan spell at Roma, meaning that Chelsea face a big decision on his future.

Given that he hasn't played for the club in two years it seems highly likely that Lukaku will be moved on.

But with a striker top of their shopping list and the Belgian star continuing to score for fun, they could do much worse than offering him a chance to impress.