Belgium coach Roberto Martinez believes the end of the season could be a defining moment in Romelu Lukaku's career amid his struggles at Chelsea.
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The 28-year-old has had an indifferent spell since returning to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan for a club-record fee of €113 million (R1.8 billion) at the beginning of the season.
Following a month-long injury in October and a bout of the coronavirus, Lukaku has failed to cement a starting spot in Thomas Tuchel's starting XI.
With the 2022 FIFA World Cup looming, the striker's national team coach has admitted he will be assessing the player's situation as the tournament approaches.
"We are talking about players, like Romelu, who have got over 100 caps and are part of this group of players who know the national team inside out," Martinez told The Sun.
"I'm not going to judge or assess the condition of any player until after the summer because it is not a normal situation.
"It is still seven months to the World Cup and probably you will go into the details of how a player feels when it gets closer to it than now.
"But there will be a lot of players who change clubs or are going to feel in a different way in the summer.
"Romelu needs to be assessed on how he feels in September, the same way Eden Hazard does and some others.
"But he is one of the players for whom the summer could be a big moment for their careers."
The end of 2021 was a turbulent time for the former Manchester United striker, who gave a controversial interview to Sky Italia explaining that he was not happy with how he was utilised under Blues boss Tuchel and that he hoped to return to Inter in the future.
Lukaku has found the back of the net 12 times in 35 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea this season.
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