Romelu Lukaku

[iseah100 5,612]

Costa is better. Even with that iffy hamstring.

[Kieran. 6,317]

Costa is better. Even with that iffy hamstring.

I don't think anyone's disputing that but was Costa this good at 22? No.

[Tomo 21,681]

No. He left because he was not going to be given a realistic chance up front. You can call that arrogance or being a coward but I think that shows ambition. He wants to play and prove himself rather than just take the weekly wages and sit back on the bench. Ibra is very arrogant but does that affect his ability? No. Lukaku has some arrogance but that is not going to get in the way of his football ability. He is inconsistent but that does not link to his attitude. He lives and breathes football and is always striving to improve.

Wasn't he? He got on in 3 of the 4 games before going to Everton and was offered the back up roll to Costa, but decided to leave for first team football, given Costas injury record he would have got more than enough playtime.

Can he really improve that much when you factor in his overall skillset? He isn't a technically great player and never will be, its not really something you improve on you either have it or you don't, he will carve up a decent career but he is at his ceiling now (a decent premier league goalscorer) in my opinion.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

Wasn't he? He got on in 3 of the 4 games before going to Everton and was offered the back up roll to Costa, but decided to leave for first team football, given Costas injury record he would have got more than enough playtime.

Can he really improve that much when you factor in his overall skillset? He isn't a technically great player and never will be, its not really something you improve on you either have it or you ain't, he will carve up a decent career but he is at his ceiling now (a decent premier league goalscorer) in my opinion.

Exactly.

He will always be a big fish in a small pond. It was the same at Anderlecht. If he was all that he thought he was, he should of stayed here but he left after the Super Cup on loan and didn't want to come back unless he would be undisputed first choice (which was never going to happen because Diego Costa had basically just had a season where he made the difference for Atletico) but no he decided he would be better playing every week at Everton, where he had a shite campaign and lost his starting place for Belgium, so obviously it turned out to be a good decision.

He will always be a limited footballer and he will never play for a title winning club. He clearly has no ambition... really to go play at Everton, a team who will never win a PL title or play in the CL, where he will always be comfortable as opposed to fighting for a place against a world class competitor in Costa and also against Remy who is a better striker and later Falcao under one of the best managers in the business in a team who won the title last year and also a domestic cup and got so far in the CL.

[zolayes 14,489]

he might have been useful for us today

[Stats 6,982]

Wasn't he? He got on in 3 of the 4 games before going to Everton and was offered the back up roll to Costa, but decided to leave for first team football, given Costas injury record he would have got more than enough playtime.

Can he really improve that much when you factor in his overall skillset? He isn't a technically great player and never will be, its not really something you improve on you either have it or you don't, he will carve up a decent career but he is at his ceiling now (a decent premier league goalscorer) in my opinion.

Yeah and it is about 'if' Costa gets injured. Costa returns and he goes straight back on the bench. That is definite. Yeah, he would have got playtime but he is good enough to play up front for a lot of good teams. He may not be technically gifted but his strengths will always mean he will be a prominent goalscorer. His linkup and hold up play look to have improved. Look at Remy. How many starts does he get and despite doing well in his limited appearances last season, he seems to be the least favoured striker. Falcao, for god knows what reason has come on instead of him for our 2 opening games now. Lukaku would have been the same. I would not be surprised for him to get around 20 league goals if he is fit for the whole season. He can do that every season, regardless of his technical limitations.

Exactly.

He will always be a big fish in a small pond. It was the same at Anderlecht. If he was all that he thought he was, he should of stayed here but he left after the Super Cup on loan and didn't want to come back unless he would be undisputed first choice (which was never going to happen because Diego Costa had basically just had a season where he made the difference for Atletico) but no he decided he would be better playing every week at Everton, where he had a shite campaign and lost his starting place for Belgium, so obviously it turned out to be a good decision.

He will always be a limited footballer and he will never play for a title winning club. He clearly has no ambition... really to go play at Everton, a team who will never win a PL title or play in the CL, where he will always be comfortable as opposed to fighting for a place against a world class competitor in Costa and also against Remy who is a better striker and later Falcao under one of the best managers in the business in a team who won the title last year and also a domestic cup and got so far in the CL.

I completely disagree. Lukaku definitely made the best decision going Everton. He is playing in a decent team in the best league in the world and scoring goals. For the record, Lukaku never lost his place in the Belgium team because of his club form. You think he will never play for a title winning club? Even though he will be playing at the top level for possible the next decade plus? Ridiculous assumption. You call it lack of ambition. The funny thing is that is what a lot of people would say about a player who stays at a top club, although they never start and don't move to a team where they will play. Lukaku is 22, when he left us permanently he was 21. He knows he can potentially play for a top team in Europe which I am sure he will do so he obviously has no qualms playing for an inferior team who are likely to fight for top 6. Where was Costa when he was 22? Where were a lot of top strikers? But because Lukaku at the age of 21 decided he wanted to leave to play football it means he lacks ambition? Rubbish. He is ambitious because he does not want to be like some who stay at big clubs simply for the money but have no ambition for their football career.

His time will come where he gets a big money move. Ludicrous if you think he can't play for a team who will challenge for the title. He will prove you wrong. This rubbish about he could of stayed and fight for his place is so flawed and ridiculous. He would of fought as much as Remy did but guess what, when Costa is fit, he will not play. It is that simple. Why would you want to stay on the bench? Yeah he went to an inferior team but he has got years ahead of him to be fighting for trophies.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

Yeah and it is about 'if' Costa gets injured. Costa returns and he goes straight back on the bench. That is definite. Yeah, he would have got playtime but he is good enough to play up front for a lot of good teams. He may not be technically gifted but his strengths will always mean he will be a prominent goalscorer. His linkup and hold up play look to have improved. Look at Remy. How many starts does he get and despite doing well in his limited appearances last season, he seems to be the least favoured striker. Falcao, for god knows what reason has come on instead of him for our 2 opening games now. Lukaku would have been the same. I would not be surprised for him to get around 20 league goals if he is fit for the whole season. He can do that every season, regardless of his technical limitations.

I completely disagree. Lukaku definitely made the best decision going Everton. He is playing in a decent team in the best league in the world and scoring goals. For the record, Lukaku never lost his place in the Belgium team because of his club form. You think he will never play for a title winning club? Even though he will be playing at the top level for possible the next decade plus? Ridiculous assumption. You call it lack of ambition. The funny thing is that is what a lot of people would say about a player who stays at a top club, although they never start and don't move to a team where they will play. Lukaku is 22, when he left us permanently he was 21. He knows he can potentially play for a top team in Europe which I am sure he will do so he obviously has no qualms playing for an inferior team who are likely to fight for top 6. Where was Costa when he was 22? Where were a lot of top strikers? But because Lukaku at the age of 21 decided he wanted to leave to play football it means he lacks ambition? Rubbish. He is ambitious because he does not want to be like some who stay at big clubs simply for the money but have no ambition for their football career.

His time will come where he gets a big money move. Ludicrous if you think he can't play for a team who will challenge for the title. He will prove you wrong. This rubbish about he could of stayed and fight for his place is so flawed and ridiculous. He would of fought as much as Remy did but guess what, when Costa is fit, he will not play. It is that simple. Why would you want to stay on the bench? Yeah he went to an inferior team but he has got years ahead of him to be fighting for trophies.

He would of proved me wrong if he stayed here, knuckled down and stopped thinking he was that 18 year old who scored 30 odd goals in the Belgian league where it is basically mickey mouse level.

He missed a penalty in the super cup and went on loan for some strange reason, which Mourinho told journalists to ask him about why he did, which is fair enough I suppose but to come back to Chelsea at age 21 or 22 and demand to lead the line ahead of Diego Costa? Who the fuck does the guy think he is? He would of played here as a second choice that is the funny thing, eventually he could of played as first choice or even in tandem with Costa but no he wanted to go play at an average club who will never compete for a PL title.

How many 21, 22 or 23 year olds start at a huge club who compete for titles every year at a high standard? Apart from the exceptions like Neymar at Barcelona? Everybody starts somewhere, if you have to work your arse off to get into the Chelsea team so be it, he had the opportunity to and decided he didn't want to so asking to go to Everton because he wouldn't be first choice here, to me looked like he was showing a lack of ambition, you could go play every week for Everton again or you could come back, work hard, improve playing with better players, still play quite regularly... look how many games Drogba got aged 37 ffs... but no he chose not to. So to me, perhaps not others, a lack of ambition.

His time will come when he gets a big money move? He's already had two big money moves really. For an 18 year old a potential 18M move is big and then for a 21 year old a 32M move is also big. Everton will never make a huge profit on him I reckon because they already bought him for so much.

Where was Costa when he was 22? Ok use that argument but where was so many other top strikers when they were 22? Requesting a transfer to Everton because they weren't going to be number 1 at the top class club they were at, when they weren't ready to be the number 1 at such a club and got told they would be number 2? Nope.

[Stats 6,982]

He would of proved me wrong if he stayed here, knuckled down and stopped thinking he was that 18 year old who scored 30 odd goals in the Belgian league where it is basically mickey mouse level.

He missed a penalty in the super cup and went on loan for some strange reason, which Mourinho told journalists to ask him about why he did, which is fair enough I suppose but to come back to Chelsea at age 21 or 22 and demand to lead the line ahead of Diego Costa? Who the fuck does the guy think he is? He would of played here as a second choice that is the funny thing, eventually he could of played as first choice or even in tandem with Costa but no he wanted to go play at an average club who will never compete for a PL title.

How many 21, 22 or 23 year olds start at a huge club who compete for titles every year at a high standard? Apart from the exceptions like Neymar at Barcelona? Everybody starts somewhere, if you have to work your arse off to get into the Chelsea team so be it, he had the opportunity to and decided he didn't want to so asking to go to Everton because he wouldn't be first choice here, to me looked like he was showing a lack of ambition, you could go play every week for Everton again or you could come back, work hard, improve playing with better players, still play quite regularly... look how many games Drogba got aged 37 ffs... but no he chose not to. So to me, perhaps not others, a lack of ambition.

His time will come when he gets a big money move? He's already had two big money moves really. For an 18 year old a potential 18M move is big and then for a 21 year old a 32M move is also big. Everton will never make a huge profit on him I reckon because they already bought him for so much.

Where was Costa when he was 22? Ok use that argument but where was so many other top strikers when they were 22? Requesting a transfer to Everton because they weren't going to be number 1 at the top class club they were at, when they weren't ready to be the number 1 at such a club and got told they would be number 2? Nope.

Do you have a link or quote of him actually saying that or are you manipulating the situation? As far as I remember, he stated that he wanted to be playing first team football, otherwise he would look elsewhere. He had 2 seasons out on loan in a row. He scored 20 goals in the PL for WBA at the age of what? 19. Phenomonal achievement. He then came back and a lot of us wanted him to stay. He wanted to, but he obviously was not happy, like a lot of us when despite his season at WBA, combined with him being top scorer in pre-season, he still was not able to start any of our 4 games for god knows what reason and the thing is we had poor/average strikers. He then went out on loan again, to Everton this time, scored goals but it was obvious from the start that Mourinho did not fancy him as a starting striker.

Lukaku, who was loaned out twice, and is ambitious because he knows how good he is, was not going to accept 2 seasons being farmed out on loan then for the club to basically say, you scored goals but we are still not convinced by you as a no.1. While I was delighted with Costa and fellow fans alike, we stood years by garbage such as Torres and constantly gave him chances but were not willing to do the same with Lukaku. He obviously knew the quality of Diego Costa and knew he had no realistic chance of ever replacing him in the team unless Costa got injured, otherwise he is only going to make sub appearances in the PL and his other starts would come in the Cup. Fair play to him, he wanted to go and play regular football. Everton are a good team.

With regards to the second highlighted part, you proved exactly what I am stating. You said everybody starts somewhere. Maybe Lukaku realised when he made the permanent move to Everton that he was only 21 and another big move could come in a few seasons if he keeps on doing what he does best: scoring. That is ambition. Rather than follow a lot of players who are happy to stay at the likes of Chelsea, City etc and fall into obscurity, he wants to play. That is a sign of a player who loves his football and has high ambitions.

When we bought him for a start, he was considered as one for the future and the fee was a reflection of his potential. It was big money, then yet again will it prove to be worth it? Yes imo. Is Stones worth £34m? No. But for his potential, we may just have to pay big money for him. Is Shaw worth over £30m? No. But United saw the potential in him as well as his current ability. He scores goals and as long as he does that it is money's worth. If he gets over 15 league goals this season are you still going to say it was too much? Especially when it is clear he is capable of scoring bagful of goals, season in, season out.

To your last point which I highlighted. Yeah, you can say he is working under the best manager in the world but would he develop more at being a sub at us or starting every game at Everton? I know which one I would say. A few years time, Lukaku will be leading the line for a top club. Maybe even United, who knows. Very naive to say, he has no chance of leading the line for a title-chasing club.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

Do you have a link or quote of him actually saying that or are you manipulating the situation? As far as I remember, he stated that he wanted to be playing first team football, otherwise he would look elsewhere. He had 2 seasons out on loan in a row. He scored 20 goals in the PL for WBA at the age of what? 19. Phenomonal achievement. He then came back and a lot of us wanted him to stay. He wanted to, but he obviously was not happy, like a lot of us when despite his season at WBA, combined with him being top scorer in pre-season, he still was not able to start any of our 4 games for god knows what reason and the thing is we had poor/average strikers. He then went out on loan again, to Everton this time, scored goals but it was obvious from the start that Mourinho did not fancy him as a starting striker.

Lukaku, who was loaned out twice, and is ambitious because he knows how good he is, was not going to accept 2 seasons being farmed out on loan then for the club to basically say, you scored goals but we are still not convinced by you as a no.1. While I was delighted with Costa and fellow fans alike, we stood years by garbage such as Torres and constantly gave him chances but were not willing to do the same with Lukaku. He obviously knew the quality of Diego Costa and knew he had no realistic chance of ever replacing him in the team unless Costa got injured, otherwise he is only going to make sub appearances in the PL and his other starts would come in the Cup. Fair play to him, he wanted to go and play regular football. Everton are a good team.

With regards to the second highlighted part, you proved exactly what I am stating. You said everybody starts somewhere. Maybe Lukaku realised when he made the permanent move to Everton that he was only 21 and another big move could come in a few seasons if he keeps on doing what he does best: scoring. That is ambition. Rather than follow a lot of players who are happy to stay at the likes of Chelsea, City etc and fall into obscurity, he wants to play. That is a sign of a player who loves his football and has high ambitions.

When we bought him for a start, he was considered as one for the future and the fee was a reflection of his potential. It was big money, then yet again will it prove to be worth it? Yes imo. Is Stones worth £34m? No. But for his potential, we may just have to pay big money for him. Is Shaw worth over £30m? No. But United saw the potential in him as well as his current ability. He scores goals and as long as he does that it is money's worth. If he gets over 15 league goals this season are you still going to say it was too much? Especially when it is clear he is capable of scoring bagful of goals, season in, season out.

To your last point which I highlighted. Yeah, you can say he is working under the best manager in the world but would he develop more at being a sub at us or starting every game at Everton? I know which one I would say. A few years time, Lukaku will be leading the line for a top club. Maybe even United, who knows. Very naive to say, he has no chance of leading the line for a title-chasing club.

Mourinho said he would of played here but he wanted to go. A few years time we will see, people said that when he was at Anderlecht that he would be one of the best strikers if he moved to a top club in 3 or 4 years time and hes now 22 and he's bang average, I don't see him being a number 1 at a title chasing club.

Does anybody here regret selling him? I certainly don't. Costa and Remy are both better players. Lukaku is bang average. Big fish small pond.

Also mentioning Torres is pointless, he might of been shit but financially it would of been stupid not to play him. He cost a straight up 50M fee and nearly 200k a week wages or whatever he was on, yeah not using him at all would of been better for us perhaps but in terms of finances it made no sense. Would be like throwing money down the drain.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Oh come on, everyone who thought Lukaku would have gotten a decent chance at Chelsea needs to take a look at Remy. That poor guy has never disappointed and now he's third in line after Falcao. The guy is a French international and he's wasting the best years of his career on the bench for a name that doesn't seem to deliver anymore (does it ring a bell?).

Cheap strikers are doomed here. Remy is an idiot for staying actually.

How is he bang average btw? He's 22 and he's one of the top ten strikers (top 5 in his best form) in the biggest league in the world. No one thought he'd be another Pele.

[Tomo 21,681]

Oh come on, everyone who thought Lukaku would have gotten a decent chance at Chelsea needs to take a look at Remy. That poor guy has never disappointed and now he's third in line after Falcao. The guy is a French international and he's wasting the best years of his career on the bench for a name that doesn't seem to deliver anymore (does it ring a bell?).

Cheap strikers are doomed here. Remy is an idiot for staying actually.

How is he bang average btw? He's 22 and he's one of the top ten strikers (top 5 in his best form) in the biggest league in the world. No one thought he'd be another Pele.

Top 10, top 5 on best form? Roll back 5 years and that was Darren Bent, yet I wouldn't have him at Chelsea.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Top 10, top 5 on best form? Roll back 5 years and that was Darren Bent, yet I wouldn't have him at Chelsea.

Oh so because one guy failed to deliver somewhere in the past, this automatically means Lukaku will do so as well. Last year was arguably his worst since the one he wasted warming the Chelsea bench and he still scored 20 goals in all competitions and became the EL top scorer. What a loser.

Give me 10 strikers playing in the premier league now that are consistently better. Aguero, Costa (although when was the last time he was actually good?), we'll see about Kane in the season to come, maybe Benteke (not consistently though). Rooney hasn't been a real striker in years... Who else? 5 more names. Go for it. ;-)

[Tomo 21,681]

Oh so because one guy failed to deliver somewhere in the past, this automatically means Lukaku will do so as well. Last year was arguably his worst since the one he wasted warming the Chelsea bench and he still scored 20 goals in all competitions and became the EL top scorer. What a loser.

Give me 10 strikers playing in the premier league now that are consistently better. Aguero, Costa (although when was the last time he was actually good?), we'll see about Kane in the season to come, maybe Benteke (not consistently though). Rooney hasn't been a real striker in years... Who else? 5 more names. Go for it. ;-)

That's the thing, Bent didn't fail to deliever, I brought him u because he is similar to Lukaku in terms of the fact he is a very good PL goalscorer but lacks the all round game to make it to the very very top.

If Lukaku does get a gig at a top club again he will score goals that I have no doubt, but the best teams need more than just that from a forward, despite being a roaring personal success, United actually suffered big time as a collective while Van Nisseroy was there.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

That's the thing, Bent didn't fail to deliever, I brought him u because he is similar to Lukaku in terms of the fact he is a very good PL goalscorer but lacks the all round game to make it to the very very top.

If Lukaku does get a gig at a top club again he will score goals that I have no doubt, but the best teams need more than just that from a forward, despite being a roaring personal success, United actually suffered big time as a collective while Van Nisseroy was there.

The discussion was not about whether or not Lukaku is going to eventually succeed playing for a top club, it was about whether leaving Chelsea was a smart decision or showing a lack of ambition. I gave Rémy as an example of someone who decided to stay but is never going to get a decent role in the squad. Lukaku was in the same boat.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

This said: why are there so few top tier strikers playing in the premier league? Aguero might be the only one that could be considered one of the very best on a global level.

Italy has Tevez, Higuain and now Bacca
France has Zlatan, Cavani

Germany has... Lewandowski I guess

Spain has well, every one else actually. It's not even close.

Actually, damn, there are not many world class strikers these days.

Is it just me or were there much more at the end of the 90s early 2000s?: Ronaldo, Del Piero, Batistuta, Inzaghi, Henry, Trezeguet, Anelka, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Makaay, Hasselbaink, Zola, Van Nistelrooy, Owen, Yorke, Shevchenko, Suker, Bierhoff, Klose, Totti, Raul, Shearer, Crespo, Jardel, Rivaldo,...

There's many more... All these guys played in approximately the same period. Makes this generation (let's forget about Messi and Ronaldo for a while) look like bums in comparison. Even a guy like Solskjaer - who was never much more than a super sub for Utd, would probably walk into any premier league team except for City this season.

[Tomo 21,681]

This said: why are there so few top tier strikers playing in the premier league? Aguero might be the only one that could be considered one of the very best on a global level.

Italy has Tevez, Higuain and now Bacca

France has Zlatan, Cavani

Germany has... Lewandowski I guess

Spain has well, every one else actually. It's not even close.

Actually, damn, there are not many world class strikers these days.

Is it just me or were there much more at the end of the 90s early 2000s?

I would add Costa to that list, I've explained my reason for that in his thread.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

I would add Costa to that list, I've explained my reason for that in his thread.

Well, if he starts scoring goals again, he can be on the list.

[robsblubot 3,236]

You know that that the numerous coaches Chelsea club employs do watch the almost daily practices, fitness training sessions, tests, run physicals on players so they know how well their lungs work, etc and thousand other things we have no clue about.

With all that information at their disposal, they make decisions concerning current ability and potential ability/development. Potential, Lukaku's case, is far more difficult to assess because it involves a number of different variables that these professionals not have access to.

On the other hand, current potential is far easier to assess: Remy doesn't play because he does not impress in training. Perhaps he does well in training as he does well most of the time he plays. Costa is a lot better than Remy and Falcao if regaining any sort of fitness, is twice the player, so I really don't understand what people want from Remy... win the CL with him up front? Honestly, that's delusional.

Concerning Lukaku, which is what this thread is about anyway, I don't blame the club considering how far off he is/was from becoming the player we needed. The question was really about whether he was willing to wait or not (going on loan once again) and he chose to play. It was probably right for him as he needs the time and the minutes to become a better player.

I'd still be surprised if he ever becomes a world class striker, as I think his ceiling is much lower than that due to his limited technique.