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Romelu Lukaku believes his loan spell at Everton helped make him “the compete striker”.

The Belgium forward credits his 10 months playing under Roberto Martinez with improving him technically and enhancing his finishing prowess. But although he clearly relished spending last term at Goodison, when he plundered 15 goals, it seems the 21-year-old now has his heart set on trying to force his way into the Chelsea side despite the Londoners being on the brink of signing Atletico star Diego Costa.

He said: “I only know one thing and that is that, in my opinion, Chelsea are still the biggest club in England. And they have a very, very good manager!

“I have a contract with Chelsea after this summer and I am not focusing on any move to Atletico.

“Let me say that I am now the complete striker. I never thought I was a target man, a No.9 who could play with his back to the goal. I always wanted to run at defenders. That is still a great quality, but now I can do both. I love playing as a real striker in the box now.

“I have been playing all season for a team which has more than 60 percent of the time possession of the ball.

“Technically I have been improving as a player. I play for a manager who makes his team play really good football and I don’t have to chase the ball all the time.

“Getting the ball so often close to the goal becomes a natural thing.

“My concentration is better than ever on finishing, rather than on running with the ball. I am absolutely convinced that moving to Everton was the best step in my career. When you feel everything is working out, it makes you so relaxed and happy as a player in big matches.’’

Martinez spent hours on the training ground helping Lukaku to vary his repertoire of goal scoring, including drifting out wide before cutting into the area and shooting with his left foot. He duly scored a spectacular goal in that manner during the 3-0 April win over Arsenal at Goodison, and raced over to the celebrate with the jubilant Toffees boss.

Since then Lukaku has been on a hot streak for his country, bagging a sensational hat-trick during a 5-1 rout of Luxembourg last month during a World Cup warm-up game.

“In my head I feel better than ever,” he said. “I finished the Premier League season on a high. I scored two goals in my last two matches. After that I went home to my family and spent a whole week clearing my head from a hectic 12 month period.

“I needed to be mentally strong and fresh for the World Cup. As soon as I went onto the pitch in a Belgium shirt I scored a hat-trick for my country.

“I now feel that everything I want to do is happening. It all works. Yes, I have been scoring goals for Belgium by doing a slalom in between defenders. I never used to do that.

“But I have been training on that technical aspect every day at the end of the season with Everton. The last time I had scored a goal like that was in a youth team. But at Everton training has been brilliant and my confidence is higher than ever.

“I keep the ball from my Belgium hat-trick at home. It is in a trophy cabinet next to the match ball from the Man United game, when I scored three times for West Brom. I would love to get another ball.”

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