The Belgian marked his second home debut for the Blues with two stunning strikes at the weekend as Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, making it three goals in three games for the summer signing from Inter Milan.

Alonso, who captained the Blues to victory on Saturday, has had a close-up look of Lukaku’s attributes and is backing Lukaku to remain on the goal trail for Chelsea.

‘He has shown his abilities,’ our Spanish left-back explained. ‘He is so strong and he scores goals.

‘Of course he is one of the best in his position and it’s great to have him with us. It will be a tough fight [for the Golden Boot] but of course he’s got a chance.

‘If the whole team will deliver for him and be together and put in performances like this, he’s just going to have to score the goals and we will see at the end of the season.

‘You see all the good teams in the last few teams who have won the league, they’ve had someone in the top scorers list. That’s what we will have with Lukaku this season, I’m sure. Hopefully he will help us achieve bigger things and score as many goals as he can.’

Next on the agenda for Thomas Tuchel’s side is our opening Champions League group game of this season, with Zenit St Petersburg heading to Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening as we begin the defence of our crown.

While acknowledging it will be a difficult task to repeat last season’s success, Alonso insists the Blues will certainly be up for the fight.

‘It will be difficult for sure because everyone will be so motivated to play against the defending champions,’ added Marcos.

‘But we know what we are capable of. We need to train hard and show that we are up for the fight to win the Champions League again.’