Generally speaking, spending obscene amounts on strikers in their prime doesn't work out and is rarely a wise investment. It isn't fiscally responsible. That said, spending so much on renovating the squad and then getting bogged down by a striker not doing his job and refusing to fix the problem is even worse. Basically, the options we have at ST are either Torres, Sturridge, Lukaku or someone new (I don't think Mata, Hazard, Moses or any of our ther youth strikers stand any chance to become the starter in this role).
We could bring Lukaku back in January, but it'd be a mistake. He's not ready (although as one of my above posts show, he'd probably be better than Torres) and he would be better served staying at West Brom and competing with Long for minutes rather than get rushed back. In the summer, should we not get anyone new, he should be guaranteed some time. Bringing someone new would have to be in January. Unless the club is willing to swap Torres for someone established, it'd make no sense to have Lukaku come back and bring in someone new at the same time. Honestly, bringing someone new would probably jeopardise Lukaku. If we stick with Torres/Sturridge, we have 3 possible outcomes: Either one of them ignites and turns good and we stick with them, they don't and we persevere until next summer and reconsider with Lukaku in the mix, or they don't and we buy someone in January.
For me, the best solution, assuming Torres fails to play as he should, would be swap him for Lewandowski or Falcao (or Cavani) or sell him and bring one of those in (more likely), with that person taking up main striker duties. When Lukaku returns next season, making him the 2nd in the line and actually give him some signifcant playing time and Sturridge can be a sub. It doesn't take into consideration the fact that Sturridge's contract is expiring whereas Torres' isn't, which could create a scenario in which we flog Sturridge, have keep Torres and have him moping around as backup while shifting Lukaku to 3rd choice. Frankly, a non-horrible alternative (would be pretty good actually) would be a straight Torres for Falcao swap (or whatever), Sturridge out, Lukaku in, and Fellaini in too (because I said so damnit), with Fellaini, Moses, Hazard, Mata and youth STs as emergency cover.
But I'd much rather just see Torres and Sturridge score 20 goals a piece.
EDIT: I think I've managed to make every thread today about Chelsea. I'm disproportionately active.
