Lukaku pondering summer loan switch from Chelsea

Posted Monday, January 16, 2012 by ESPN

Lukaku pondering summer loan switch from Chelsea
Romelu Lukaku has played seven times this season

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku says he will have to consider going out on loan next season if he fails to get more first-team opportunities at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku, 18, arrived in West London with an impressive reputation having scored 31 goals in two seasons for Anderlecht, but has struggled to assert himself on the first-team picture this season.

The talented young Belgium international has played just seven times and with Andre Villas-Boas seemingly reluctant to turn to him, Lukaku admits he may be forced to look elsewhere for regular football.

"If my situation at Chelsea does not evolve between now and the end of the season, it may be better to be loaned out for a season," Lukaku is quoted as saying by the Belga news agency.

"A loan this season is not possible, as I have already played for two different clubs [but] if this situation endures, it might be better to play for another club for a year and then come back.

"But let's see what happens in the next six months. Many things could still change."

Despite Lukaku's lack of game time, Villas-Boas did let Nicolas Anelka leave Chelsea for China earlier this month in a move that would seem to indicate he is prepared to turn to him in the future.

And with Didier Drogba at the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast, the teenage forward could see more action over the next month - though Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge are still ahead of him in the pecking order.