Is Romelu Lukaku ready to be Chelsea's main man if Diego Costa leaves?

With Romelu Lukaku set for a big-money return to Chelsea, we look at whether the Everton striker is ready to lead the line for the Premier League champions.

Romelu Lukaku has never been short of confidence in his own ability. But then, what would you expect from a player who has been scoring goals freely at the top level since he was 16 years old?

The Belgian won the golden boot in his home country in his first full season as a pro, finding the net 15 times as Anderlecht won the title in 2009/10 and scoring four times in Champions League qualifying.

While most players his age were still making their way in youth football, Lukaku had 33 goals in just 73 league appearances for Anderlecht when Chelsea paid £10m to sign him in August 2011.

After a season in the Blues' reserves, Lukaku showed off his goal-scoring ability in the Premier League, hitting the net 17 times during a loan spell with West Bromwich Albion before improving his strike rate at Everton, where he scored 15 goals in 31 games to take Roberto Martinez's side to a fifth-place finish.

Lukaku's running numbers don't make impressive reading. No striker to have played more than 1000 minutes last season averaged less than his 8.84km per game, while his 44.77 sprints per match put him 42nd out of 48 forwards.

Costa's average distance covered placed him in the lower third of those standings, too - but he averaged 18 more sprints per game than Lukaku, for the 14th best figure among those regular forwards.