Throughout his career Romelu Lukaku has played for some of the most prestigious clubs in world football.
He’s enjoyed stints at Manchester United, Chelsea (twice), Roma, Inter and currently plies his trade for Napoli.
While he has always been in demand, he has endured some tough spells through the years, often resulting in him falling out with clubs and their fans.
‘What is the problem with wanting to win prizes?’ Romelu Lukaku shares his frustration with people questioning his motives
After signing for Chelsea from Anderlecht in 2011, Lukaku enjoyed two sensational seasons on loan at West Bromwich Albion and Everton respectively, before joining the Toffees permanently in 2014.
In the next three years he established himself amongst the best strikers in the league, earning himself a move to Manchester United for a fee of £75 million, the fifth most expensive Premier League signing of all-time.
He enjoyed a good debut season scoring 16 Premier League goals, but the sacking of Jose Mourinho and the hiring of Ole Gunnar-Solskjaer proved fatal for his Old Trafford career, with a switch to Inter coming in 2019. Lukaku has opened up on his experience in England, suggesting he was never fully appreciated by media outlets surrounding the club.
Speaking to Belgium based outlet GVA, Lukaku said: “I am a religious person, and God always tells us that you have to forgive, but I don’t forget. That’s why I don’t give certain media any attention, I don’t even wish them a look. Sometimes you pay a price for that, but I don’t care. I’m not going to kiss someone’s ass to be loved.
“I remember my first game with Manchester United, the Supercup against Real Madrid. I scored but we lost and there was an opportunity I missed. We played the next game against West Ham, and I scored twice, and in the next game I scored again.
“But it was always ‘yes, but …’. I don’t get any respect. Then I knew that whatever happened, people would look at me with suspicion.”
Lukaku also suggested that he received unfair criticism for his decision to leave Everton in pursuit of Champions League football.
“Even with Everton, when I said I didn’t want to sign, that was a problem,” Lukaku stated.
“’Why would I leave?’ people said. Why would I miss the opportunity to play Champions League elsewhere?
“That summer I could go to two clubs, and I chose that one because I wanted to play in the Champions League and win prizes. What is the problem with wanting to win prizes? If someone else does that, there is no problem.”
Lukaku has commanded the second highest transfer fees of any player ever in his career at over €369 million combined according to Transfermarkt, and in FourFourTwo’s opinion this may have been his undoing.
His goalscoring stats are great, his 121 Premier League goals puts him 22nd on the all-time top scorers list and he is Belgium’s top scorer of all-time, but transfers out of his control perhaps lend to harsher criticism than he deserved.
