"He is just below the elite" - Jamie Carragher claims 28-year-old Chelsea star 'has to do more'

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is disappointed by the season Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku is currently having. According to him, Lukaku is not at the level of other the world's current best forwards like Harry Kane or Robert Lewandowski.

The Belgian forward hasn't lived up to expectations since his £97.5 million transfer from Inter Milan last summer. With the fee the Blues paid to secure his services, big things were expected of the 28-year-old.

Speaking to CBS Sports (via HITC), Jamie Carragher was quoted as saying the following:

“It’s not down to the manager. It’s down to Lukaku. It’s not about the love from the manager. You spend £100 million on a player to make a difference in these games. He can’t even get into the team.”

He added:

“I think he is just below the elite. I have always felt that. I always feel that whenever we have spoken about Lukaku, there is always a ‘but’. Even his record in the Premier League, even though he scored a lot of goals. If you look at the teams, it was never against the biggest teams. Very good player. When you are talking about Benzema, Harry Kane or Lewandowski. For me, he has just been a little bit below that level.”

Romelu Lukaku has been one of Chelsea's most underperforming players this season. The Belgian international has scored 12 goals in 36 appearances for the Blues across all competitions. However, only five of those goals have been scored in the Premier League.

It is worth mentioning that Lukaku has failed to score a league goal in 2022. The last time he scored in the Premier League was back in December during Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Despite his lack of goals and game time in recent weeks, Romelu Lukaku is still Chelsea's joint-highest goalscorer this season alongside Kai Havertz.

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Chelsea take on Southampton in the Premier League next

Chelsea will be keen to return to winning ways when they face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday (9 April). The Blues have suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions since club football returned from the international break.

Thomas Tuchel's side suffered a shock 4-1 defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Brentford at Stamford Bridge last weekend. Things did not get any better when they lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their quarterfinals tie in the Champions League.

It was only the second time they have suffered back-to-back defeats across competitions this season. They are currently third in the table with 59 points, five more than fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, and have played one game less than them.