Premier League
Has Manchester United Made a Good Decision on Lukaku?
Manchester United have smashed the British transfer record for Romelu Lukaku, but how much do you actually know about a 24-year-old with an acronym for a name?
Manchester United smashed the British transfer record to sign Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku from Everton on Monday – but what is it about the 24-year-old that has made him such hot property?
This is the outcome of uefa.com’s investigation:
WHAT THEY SAY:
“Romelu is a natural fit for Manchester United. He is a big personality and a big player. It is only natural that he wants to develop his career at the biggest club”, said José Mourinho, Manchester United manager.
“At the age of 23, I always believed he had the possibility of becoming the best No9 in world football because he has absolutely everything”, remarked Roberto Martínez, Belgium coach.
LUKAKU’s PROFILE
International: 57 appearances, 20 goals
UEFA club competition: 27 appearances, 13 goals
Domestic competition: 317 appearances, 145 goals
Claims to fame
Anderlecht
▪ One of 13 youth players who joined Anderlecht in 2006 from relegated Lierse, for whom he had scored 121 goals in 68 youth games.
▪ Lukaku became the youngest player to appear for Anderlecht when he made his debut just 11 days after his 16th birthday on 24 May 2009 – in a Belgian championship decider against Standard Liège (a 1-0 loss).
▪ Scored 20 minutes into his top-flight debut against Zulte Waregem, a nonchalant back-heel to convert a low cross. “After scoring I dived into a sea of happiness,” he said.
▪ Still only 16, he was the 15-goal top scorer in his first full season in the Belgian top flight as Anderlecht won the title.
▪ Went one goal better the following season but Anderlecht missed out on the championship. Promptly joined Chelsea, taking the No18 shirt.
Chelsea
▪ Failed to find the net in 15 outings for Chelsea in all competitions. Indeed, he made only one league start in three seasons on their books – a man-of-the-match performance against Blackburn on the final day of 2011/12.
▪ Spent 2012/13 and 2013/14 on loan at West Brom (17 goals) and Everton (16) respectively.
Everton
▪ One of only four players – after Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney – to reach 80 Premier League goals before the age of 24. Now has 85.
▪ Finished last term with 25 Premier League goals, making him the first Everton player since Gary Lineker in 1985/86 to score 20 or more in the league in a season.
▪ His 68 Premier League goals for Everton is more than any other player has scored for the club.
▪ Scored in nine successive home league games during the 2016/17 campaign, matching the club record set by Dixie Dean in 1934.
▪ One of only three players – along with Olivier Giroud and Sergio Agüero – to have scored more than ten Premier League goals in each of the past five seasons.
BELGIUM:
▪ Third youngest player to appear for Belgium, winning his first cap aged 16 against Croatia in February 2010.
▪ Scored first senior goals for country aged 17 in November 2010 in a 2-0 friendly away to Russia.
▪ Hit two against Croatia in 2013 as Belgium qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in three attempts.
WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW: How he got his name;
▪ The name Romelu is an acronym, composed of the first two letters of his father’s three names: Roger Menama Lukaku.
▪ Lukaku has a rich footballing pedigree. His father Roger was capped at international level by Zaire (now DR Congo) and younger brother Jordan plays for Lazio at left-back, the same position cousin Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo hopes to occupy at new club Rapid Wien.
▪ Lukaku speaks Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Lingala, English and also understands German.
WHAT HE SAYS:
“When Manchester United and José Mourinho come knocking at the door, it is an opportunity of a lifetime and one that I could not turn down. I cannot wait to run out at Old Trafford in front of 75,000 fans.”
“I don’t like people talking to me about the Champions League [in 2011/12, when Chelsea won]. It wasn’t me, but my team that won. When [Salomon] Kalou put the cup on my lap in the bus I asked him to take it away immediately. I didn’t want to touch it because I had no part in it at all.”
WHAT HE MIGHT ACHIEVE YET:
▪ Still only 24, Lukaku (20 goals in 57 games) is well on his way to setting new Belgium highs for most appearances (96, Jan Ceulemans) and goals (30, Bernard Voorhoof and Paul Van Himst).
▪ Lukaku is yet to score a UEFA Champions League goal but the Belgian record of 17 set by Luc Nilis and Paul Van Himst may not be beyond his reach. Nilis, with 36, holds the national record for goals in major UEFA club competitions.
Lend your voice to the debate: Sports Village Square wants you to vote at the poll at the right hand corner of our Home Page. The question: Has Manchester United Made a Good Decision on Lukaku?
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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