Football: What to Expect With United Plus Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku chose to sign for Manchester United despite the fact that Chelsea was also willing to pay £75m to buy him. The Belgium striker has scored 53 times in 110 games for Everton since he signed a full deal there in 2014, and he has more goals than any other 24-year-old in Premier League history.

United are so masterful at marketing they seem to operate in a different financial class, allowing them to pay when needs to be paid to get the right players. Jose Mourinho’s rebuild of three manager’s mixed purchases is now getting closer to a team he knows how to play well.

Although Jose Mourinho axed him from his Chelsea side three years ago, Lukaku appears to holds a grudge with the club rather than the manager as he has now been reunited with the Portuguese manager at Old Trafford. Let’s take a look at why two of the PL’s elite clubs were willing to make Lukaku the fourth-most expensive player in world football.

Worth it?

It’s obvious that Lukaku knows where the goal is, as he has found the back of the net every 2.3 games on average throughout his career (not counting his Chelsea games). The 6’ 3” striker is a monster in the penalty area and once he gets into full stride there are not many defenders you would back in a battle against him.

If being strong wasn’t enough the Belgian is also the fourth-quickest striker in the league over a 30-yard sprint, which is probably the most he would need to run while chasing a ball in a game.

Although he struggled under Mourinho at Chelsea, Lukaku’s competition was Diego Costa, who was in the best form of his career, and Didier Drogba, one of Mourinho’s favourite players.

The ex-Everton striker’s stint on Merseyside has proven how much he has developed as an individual player but also as a team contributor. He topped the charts for most forward passes by a striker outside the top four clubs last season and his link-up play with Ross Barkley made the pair a deadly duo.

Compared to United’s main striker last season, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lukaku assisted more goals and had fewer shots and still scored more goals himself. The one problem that has been overshadowing Lukaku’s move to Manchester is his struggle to score in big games. Having scored just three times against any of the top five clubs last seasons, the ex-Chelsea forward is accused by many observers of lacking consistency.

He played 40 times last season and scored all of his goals in 18 of those games. In the other 22 games he tended to go missing, providing a total of just two assists.

Good Signing?

That last stat is what should be worrying United fans. Last season they had Ibrahimovic, who didn’t score many braces but provided important goals at key times in big games. Lukaku missed a bucket-full of chances against the bigger clubs but tended to net several times against the poorer sides.

The problem for The Red Devils was that it was a toss-up between Alvaro Morata, who only scores against tough oppositions but doesn’t score enough, and the Belgian who struggles in big games but scores plenty.

A price tag of £75m is a staggering amount of money but Lukaku will certainly score goals so he just might turn out to be a good signing.

by Nubaid Haroon  YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtMg-fWm7awR41vM1GhVOkA  Twitter: twitter.com/rambofyi

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