Romelu Lukaku says goodbye to Everton ahead of Man Utd move
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Romelu Lukaku has bid Everton farewell ahead of an imminent switch to Manchester United.
The 24-year-old Belgian marksman will complete his reported £75m move to Old Trafford in the coming hours, with United having confirmed a deal is agreed with Everton on Saturday.
His departure from Goodison Park ends a four-year association with Everton and a grateful Lukaku has thanked everyone involved at the Merseyside club.
“I want to say a big thank you to all the people involved at Everton,” Lukaku wrote on his official Instagram page.
“I want to thank the fans for your support throughout the four years we’ve spent together. I can proudly say it was an honour to play in front of you.”
“To the staff at the the stadium and training ground thank you for making me feel home from the first day I walked in.
“To technical staff thank you for helping me become a better player. Working with you guys has been a pleasure and I’ll take your advice throughout the rest of my career. Thank you Everton football club.”
Martial was once tipped to surpass Lukaku
The departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who recently ended his one-year stay with United, and Wayne Rooney has left manager Jose Mourinho needing someone to lead the line.
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Aside from the two already mentioned the Portuguese tactician last season fielded Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in the number nine role.
Martial must now fulfill early signs of Man Utd promise
The likelihood of Rashford or Martial starting ahead of Lukaku seems slim, with both expected to take up wide roles under Mourinho.
However, it was not long ago that Martial was tipped by former United striker and compatriot Louis Saha to surpass his new Belgian teammate.
“I’m more confident that Martial will definitely fulfil his potential,” Saha told the Daily Star shortly after Martial joined United.
“Lukaku has immense quality. You don’t score so many goals at his age without it. Martial is a little bit behind him in terms of experience and showing his talent.
“But he’s got that mentality to try to work hard every day. I hope Lukaku proves me wrong. If I’m saying it, it’s just to make him realise that as an Everton fan and a Lukaku fan, I want to see more.
“He could be one of the best strikers you can find anywhere in the world. He is completely unstoppable on his day. But on other days it’s a bit different.”
Martial’s stocked has declined after a difficult season under Mourinho, but in terms of more recent criticism Lukaku himself has been questioned for consistency.
“He’s incredibly talented and I’ve seen him destroy defences but personally I’ve never been his biggest fan,” former United defender Gary Neville wrote on Twitter last Saturday. “However he will score goals.”
“He went missing in too many matches I saw, but with a better team [and] players around him he has an improved chance to deliver in big matches.”
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Lukaku trumped both Martial and Rashford last term when it came to goals scored and shot accuracy per 90 minutes as well as averaging the most aerial duels won.
Since arriving in English football, after leaving boyhood club Anderlecht to join Chelsea, he’s made 186 appearances in the English top-flight registering 85 goals and 34 assists.
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The majority of his strikes (80%) have come representing Everton whom he joined from the Blues in 2014 for a reported £30m and last season Lukaku was responsible for 40.3% of their league goals.
His transfer also represents the fourth high profile client of super-agent Mino Raiola to join the 20-time English champions in the last year.
Lukaku follows in the footsteps of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who recently left Old Trafford, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Read more at http://www.squawka.com/news/romelu-lukaku-says-goodbye-to-everton-ahead-of-man-utd-move/968327#oytb8T6RLFdmfWDh.99
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