Romelu Lukaku's return to Inter Milan has been far from what he would have hoped it would be but the Belgium striker is showing signs of life as his team prepare for the Champions League visit of Porto.
Hit by a succession of injuries and ridiculed for his part in his country's dismal World Cup campaign, Lukaku has been a peripheral figure in what was supposed to a glorious homecoming season for the 2021 Serie A winner. The 29-year-old has only played the full 90 minutes once for Inter since being sent back there on loan from Chelsea last summer, seven starts and three goals in all competitions a poor return given all the close season hype.
On Saturday Lukaku scored his first Serie A goal since the opening day of the season, netting a penalty at the second attempt which started Inter towards a 3-1 win. However it wasn't the most convincing way to get back on the scoresheet as his first go from the spot was struck dreadfully, finally scoring after an Udinese player was caught encroaching in the penalty area.
And as it stands Lukaku is behind veteran Edin Dzeko in the queue to play alongside Lautaro Martinez, the other half of the once great 'Lu-La' partnership who has come back from Argentina's World Cup triumph in fizzing form and has even worn the captain's armband.
Martinez has scored eight times in all competitions since returning from Qatar and will be coach Simone Inzaghi's major weapon on Wednesday night. His buoyant post-World Cup mood goes in stark contrast to Lukaku's state of mind in the Gulf, a smashed dugout and a trail of missed chances against Croatia which ended the Red Devils' chances at the group stage the only memories of an awful tournament.
"Croatia was a huge disappointment but I told myself: 'Romelu, you weren't 100 percent, you'd only had two training sessions'. I was rightly massacred but now I really want to get back out on the pitch," said Lukaku at the start of the year.