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NEW LUKAKU DEAL NO GUARANTEE HE’LL STAY
NEW LUKAKU DEAL NO GUARANTEE HE’LL STAY – CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LURE IS HARD TO AVOID
Everton progress may not be enough for Lukaku
Ronald Koeman is building something rather exciting on the blue half of Merseyside. After a topsy-turvy first half of the season, the Dutchman has a settled, multi-faceted squad that is on the verge of challenging the top four once again.
New ownership, regardless of the morality of where the money came from, means a summer spending splurge looks to be on the cards, with the return of a certain Wayne Rooney top of most fans’ wish lists.
Another boost to potential exponential growth is the news that pivotal talisman Romelu Lukaku is set to sign a new five-year deal. He seems happy, but maybe, just maybe, even with pen about to be put to paper on this new contract, Lukaku has one eye on a more grander stage.
“It is difficult to compare at the moment. They have the Champions League platform to show themselves,” Lukaku said when questioned on how he sees himself in comparison to Europe’s best in a recent interview.
“I need a platform where I can show myself constantly in the big games because now I am scoring over the last five or six seasons all the time in the Premier League.
“I consider myself one of the best strikers in this league, 100 per cent, but I want to show it as well on the biggest stage in the near future.”
A record like no other
Only three other Premier League players have scored more goals before turning 24 and Lukaku does not reach that age until May. The club’s top Premier League goalscorer in history is as irreplaceable as the very first Homo Sapien Sapien.
Most 23-year-old’s would be happy to wait around for a few more years, see if Everton can break into the top four, and enjoy playing alongside the prodigal son Rooney, but with 54 international caps and 80 career goals thus far, Lukaku isn’t like most 23-year-olds.
This “near future” should worry Toffees fans, regardless of whether this new deal is signed. In the modern game, the signing of a new contract doesn’t discourage suitors or mean the player is not for sale, it simply means the fee that it would take to prize him way becomes inflated, or should form dip and the big clubs turn to other targets, food will always be laid on the family table.
Lukaku has a determination about him that few others possess. In the summer, having enjoyed another prolific campaign at Goodison Park, Lukaku wasn’t satisfied and took a personal trainer with him on holiday, and returned a more ferocious beast altogther.
Too good for Everton?
Lukaku could walk into most Premier League sides. Liverpool are crying out for an attacking focal point as Daniel Sturridge continues to wane, Manchester United have had to rely on 35-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic for their goals, while Arsenal could be left with injury-plagued Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud as their only strikers, should Alexis Sanchez laugh his way out of the Emirates in the summer. Even Chelsea would take him back.
“I have the pleasure every day to be on the pitch and watch his finishing,” Koeman eulogised recently. “He has a world-class quality in scoring goals and that is really important.”
Without being overly facetious, world class and Everton don’t often go hand in hand. Yes they are making steady progress, and have a manager at the helm capable of masterminding a Blue renaissance, but the top clubs in England have similarly skilled managers on the whole, and will only get better.
Lukaku is a rare thoroughbred. At 23, he has reached a goal tally most can only dream of accumulating in their entire careers. He can continue to score goals at Everton but, as he has been keen to point out, he needs to prove himself on grander stages to be classed in the pantheon of top strikers.
Will Everton get there in a few years? Koeman has to convince Lukaku they can, because without him, that task will get a whole lot harder.
