Lukaku to Manchester United?
Manchester United have been looking to revamp and strengthen their striker line-up this season, last time around the likes of Van Persie and Falcao didn’t really flatter the club and they did miss a lot of the fluidity and attacking intent from their strikers, something that the club have been known for during their reign of English football under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Reportedly, United are setting their sights on signing a young attacker, Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian didn’t have the greatest season at Everton last time around and he could be looking to improve his ability and continue his growth at a bigger club. Manchester United are looking for a strong, fast and clinical forward and while Lukaku isn’t the most clinical of strikers, he does have the ability to grow into a world-class forward, as long as he keeps playing games with quality players, the question is, would Lukaku be a good choice for Manchester United?
No go for this attacking brute
The biggest strength to Lukaku’s game is his physicality; he is probably one of the toughest forwards to play against when it comes to brute strength. It was because of his frame at an early age that Chelsea bought him, as he reminded them of Didier Drogba. Lukaku might have the strength and pace to his side, but it will take a lot more than that to become a star striker, especially one at Manchester United.
Thanks to stats from Squawka.com, we compare Lukaku with the other United strikers from last season and see if he is better than the strikers that played for United last season.
Lukaku played the most number of games last season when compared with Rooney, Falcao and Van Persie. The Everton striker played in 36 games while Rooney came in second with 33 games, it might come as a surprise but Lukaku and Van Persie scored the same number of goals in the Premier League last season, 10, despite Van Persie playing 6 games fewer than Lukaku. Rooney led the race with 12 goals for the season in the Premier League.
If we are to then look at his physical presence and ability to run with the ball, it doesn’t provide good reading for the young Belgian at Everton. Lukaku was the central point for the Everton attack and despite that he doesn’t have the highest aerial duels won completion, he comes second only to Rooney though with 34.25% of duels won compared to the 36.28% from Rooney.
One fact that people talk about Lukaku’s game is his running with the ball, but even that isn’t great from the striker with him having the lowest take-on percentage compared to the rest, Lukaku completed 49.45% of all his take-ons while Rooney led the race with 61%, even Falcao managed a 54% success rate in this stat while Van Persie was slightly better than Lukaku with an even 50%.
Based on these stats, United should spend their money wisely on another attacker, rather than trying for this Belgian, who is yet to be a finished product.