The future could be bright for Chelsea if they dump Lukaku, make Mason Mount skipper and move on the money-grabbers STAN COLLYMORE

PEOPLE were talking about last weekend’s Manchester City versus Liverpool game as if it was one of the greatest in Premier League history.

But I don’t buy into that.

It was a very good game but I defy anybody to remember five or six great moments in it.

Chelsea’s clash with Real Madrid in the Bernabeu on Tuesday was a classic, though, with the Blues just a smidgeon away from completing one of the great European comebacks.

What I really liked about the visitors’ performance was the way they burst out of the traps and took the game to the kings of the competition, a team whose European history drips from every pore.

They were aggressive, they played through the lines and for a good while there they really had Real rattled. And if you are the defending champions and you’re going to go out of a tournament, you go out like that.

I’ve been critical of Chelsea at times this season but that performance has to be the platform now for them to kick on and challenge next season for the Premier

League title.

I expect them to win their FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace today but FA Cups aren’t going to satisfy a fanbase who have been used to dining at the top table.

So what will be fascinating in the coming days, weeks and months is what happens in terms of their ownership and how the new guardians of the club decide to do their business.

I’m sure we’ll see £70million spent here and £80m there. But I doubt that whoever gets the nod will be dropping £200m in any given transfer window, as Roman Abramovich could.

That means supporters will almost certainly have to get used to a different business model and key to it will be whether Chelsea want to straddle the gap from third place to first – or if they are content to consolidate

in the top four.

Crazy

I see no reason to change Thomas Tuchel, but I would move on Romelu Lukaku and I would want to sit down with Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho to see how much they want.

Ideally, the Blues should keep as many players as they can, Lukaku aside. But if Jorginho and Rudiger are talking crazy numbers then you move them on because Chelsea will always be able to attract quality central defenders and midfielders.

There is a real question mark over N’golo Kante as well and when will be the right time to let him go.

What I do know for sure is that he’s not captain material. I’d give that responsibility to Mason Mount as the local lad, an England midfielder, a good talker and poster boy.

I would hand him the skipper’s armband and say, ‘This is the expectation of you as captain, this is what we want to achieve’, and set him some tangible targets.

I never think that’s a bad thing to do with quality young players and Mount (above) is one of those.

Most important of all for Chelsea will be finding a striker and they absolutely should be in the race for Kylian Mbappe (left)and Erling Haaland. But even if they miss out

then a fox-in-the-box striker could be perfect given the number of chances they create.

They should be looking for a 22-year-old or 23-yearold somewhere in Europe.

Closer

If not, then maybe Ollie Watkins, or even his Aston Villa strike partner Danny Ings, if they’re happy to go older.

Because that kind of player would score 20 to 25 goals in that team and those goals would take Chelsea a big, big step closer to what they want to achieve.

The question now will be: ‘Do the new owners want to compete?’

If they do, then with players coming through and with Conor Gallagher back off loan, the future could be a bright one for the Blues.