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Glen Johnson believes Thomas Tuchel already has the perfect replacement for Romelu Lukaku and doesn’t need to delve into the transfer market for a new striker.
The Belgium international completed his acrimonious departure from Chelsea earlier this week and rejoined Inter on a season-long loan.
Lukaku was billed as the final piece of Tuchel’s jigsaw when he returned to Stamford Bridge 12 months ago in a club-record £97million deal.
The 29-year-old struggled to adapt to Tuchel’s style, however, and failed to see eye-to-eye with his manager.
A return to Serie A suited all parties but Chelsea are unlikely to sign a like-for-like replacement and have been linked to a number of versasile wide forwards, including the likes of Raheem Sterling, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha.
Former Chelsea defender Johnson is confident that is the correct strategy and believes Armando Broja can perform the Lukaku role next season.
The 20-year-old impressed on loan at Southampton last season and had been interesting West Ham, but Johnson believes he is best served by remaining at Chelsea.
He said: ‘I think Chelsea are going to be reluctant to spend scary money again considering what happened with the Romelu Lukaku signing.
‘If it was up to me, then I’d give Armando Broja a chance rather than spending £80 million on a replacement. I’d rather get it wrong with a player that I’ve already got, rather than get it wrong by spending £80 million.
‘Broja is technically good in front of goal but I don’t know how good he is yet. He did score some fantastic goals for Southampton but, let’s face it, Southampton aren’t Chelsea.
‘He’s going to get more goal scoring opportunities at Chelsea and he’s technically good enough to score more next season.’
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