With Romelu Lukaku’s time at Manchester United likely to come to an end after just two seasons, how will his time at Old Trafford be remembered?
The Belgian striker has not played in pre-season and has been left out of United’s 26-man squad for a friendly against Kristiansund.
United have rejected a £54m bid from Inter Milan, but talks are ongoing – with Lukaku seemingly not in manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans. Juventus are also reportedly interested.
No trophies, but a better goalscoring season than Eric Cantona ever managed. How has his much-heralded big move come to this after only two years?
Part of Lukaku’s problem has been the high expectations following his £75m move from Everton two years ago – the joint-fifth most expensive transfer ever at the time.
When Lukaku moved in 2017, he was only the fourth player to score 80 goals in the Premier League before turning 24 – after Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney. His goals came for West Brom and Everton, having failed to score for Chelsea in a few cameos.
That was after scoring 33 Belgian top-flight goals for Anderlecht, including winning the Golden Boot at the age of 16 in 2009-10. The Belgian title he won that year remains his only major trophy.
“I think he’ll fit well. He’s got the temperament to handle the big situations,” former Everton midfielder Leon Osman told BBC Sport at the time.
“He’s a big character off the pitch. He does believe in himself. He has a big self-confidence. He got criticised at times at Everton for not tracking back, but Manchester United won’t have an issue with that.”
In goalscoring terms his time at United has not gone badly – although he is set to leave England without winning a single trophy.
Lukaku has scored 27 and 15 goals in his two seasons with United. Of the other strikers at Old Trafford, Marcus Rashford’s highest total in a season is 13. Anthony Martial’s best campaign was 17 goals – but that was back in 2015-16, when he first joined the club.
In his debut season, Lukaku became one of only 11 United players to hit 25 goals or more in a campaign since 1992-93. Cantona, Andy Cole and current manager Solskjaer (25 each) are among the strikers who never matched Lukaku’s 27-goal tally in a United campaign.
However 26% of his United goals – 11 out of 42 – came in the first two months of his Old Trafford career.
