Chelsea broke their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku, a player they had allowed to leave when he was younger to guarantee he fulfils his potential.
In doing so, the Blues have prepared the striker for arguably the most important period of his career.
Thomas Tuchel made clear his intention to sign a striker to build on the club’s Champions League success and challenge Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United for the Premier League title.
After weeks of talks, director Marina Granovskaia granted his wish by negotiating a deal to sign Lukaku from Inter Milan for £97.5million.
The 28-year-old is entering his prime years, a frightening thought considering the goalscoring prowess he has demonstrated in his life as a striker already.
He has not played in England since 2019, yet he still has 113 Premier League goals to his name.
He is Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer with 64 goals in 98 caps but has at least five years left at the top of international football to build on his tally.
But now, he must try to find a way to regularly imprint his name on the proverbial scoresheet, something no Chelsea striker has managed to achieve since Diego Costa left the club.
Costa is the last striker to have managed to score 20 times in the Premier League for the west London outfit, achieving the feat in two of his three seasons in the capital.
Of the numerous forwards to have filled the role in recent years, Didier Drogba is the only other frontman to surpass the 20-goal milestone.
What Chelsea have lacked for some time is a striker who combines power and pace with finesse and intelligence. But in Lukaku, they appear to have finally found their man.
If there is a criticism of the Belgian, it is that his goals in the Premier League have mostly arrived in games against lower-ranked opposition and not often enough in the crucial clashes.
Once people became aware of his lack of goals against top-six sides, he was dubbed a “flat-track bully” — something Lukaku felt was unfair.
"As a striker when I was over there [at Everton ], I had a good time. I learned my trade over there. I played there for four years. I am really grateful to the club no matter what happened,” he said.
How many goals will Romelu Lukaku score for Chelsea this season? Let us know in the comments section below.
"But sometimes it is difficult as well when you play against the top teams and you play not to win and don't really create chances. It is really difficult."
The statistics suggest that Lukaku does tend to find the net against the smaller sides, although that depends on your interpretation of which teams constitute such a tag these days.
His best record is against West Ham, who has scored 11 goals against in his career. The Hammers actually finished sixth last season though and may offer a stronger test than during his first spell in the top-flight.
Next on the list are Southampton (9), Bournemouth (8), Crystal Palace (8), Sunderland (8), Newcastle (7) and Stoke (6). The pattern is clear and undeniable.
But Blues fans will need no reminder of the times Lukaku has put them to the sword. He scored both goals in Everton’s 2-0 win at Goodison Park during the 2015-16 ‘Mourinho’ season and got on the scoresheet for Man United too.
Instead of the negative connotations that come with being a striker who only nets against smaller teams, Lukaku could actually solve a huge problem for his new manager.
Chelsea were the ninth highest scorers in the Premier League last season from open play last season and the fact their top scorer was a holding midfielder — Jorginho scored all seven goals of his goals from the penalty spot — must have hurt Tuchel.
On several occasions last season, Chelsea would dominate games against teams in the bottom half but end up with frustrating results due to their inability to kill off their opponents.
When looking at their top-four rivals, Man City had Sergio Aguero, Tottenham have seen Harry Kane flourish and Liverpool have a front-three that eliminates the need for a lone striker. But Chelsea have been forced to share the collective responsibility.
While Tuchel does not believe that they need to change their system to suit their new arrival, the 47-year-old coach has hailed Lukaku as a “proper No.9” and is confident that with a player of his strengths, they will find new ways to score.
"I think, with the exit of Olivier Giroud, we could use a player used to playing with their back to goal, whose strength is to keep possession from long balls," he said.
"He likes to play physical, he is comfortable playing with his back towards the goal. But he is also very, very strong in using his speed and pace.
"Romelu has a variety of strengths. He is strong in the air, he will give us a new power when we cross from the side. We do not have to change our style of play to make him shine."
Of course, he will need to adapt to being back in England against a different brand of defenders and tactical systems. Those expecting Lukaku to hit the ground running may need to temper their expectations.
Tuchel is unlikely to be too keen for the 6ft 2 striker to be floating around on the right flank, waiting for a chance to cut inside and show his terrific ability to beat defenders with agility and direct running.
Instead, he will be the central focal point for their attackers to use as a rebound for one-twos or a reliable poacher near the penalty spot.
The fact that all 24 of his goals came inside the box last season for Inter suggests Lukaku is happy to put his strong attributes to good use and allow Timo Werner and Kai Havertz float around as inside No.10s.
With Arsenal languishing down in 17th after the first match of the season, some Blues fans may quip that their rivals offer the perfect opportunity for Lukaku to show whether he will revel in the role of being a flat-trick bully again.
For Tuchel's sake, he will hope the answer, unequivocally, is yes.
