5 reasons why Romelu Lukaku will be a hit at Manchester United

After flirting with a move to his old stomping ground Chelsea earlier in the summer, Romelu Lukaku has finally moved club – not to Stamford Bridge, but to Old Trafford and Manchester United, where he’ll reunite with Jose Mourinho – the man who he worked under in his initial run at Chelsea some five seasons ago.

Will he be a hit at United? The jury is out and given his astronomical cost of £75m, the pressure is definitely on for him to deliver. The big Belgian hasn’t disappointed yet though, as he scored plenty of goals at Everton, and I think he should repeat the feat at United. Here are five reasons why.

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#1 He’s Jose Mourinho’s kind of striker

Jose Mourinho will be hoping Lukaku can fill the Didier Drogba role for him

This might sound odd given Jose was in charge of Chelsea during Lukaku’s time there and he never seemed to believe in him, sending him out on loan first to West Bromwich Albion and then to Everton, and eventually selling him to the Toffees outright. But realistically, that was a long time ago and it was early in Lukaku’s career too.

He might well say himself that he wasn’t ready to lead Chelsea’s line at that point.

Now though, Lukaku fits the bill for the Portuguese manager because he’s very much like Didier Drogba, the man who led the line successfully for so many games at Chelsea under Mourinho.

Not only is he a big, powerful striker who can hold up the ball, but when he does decide to make a run he’s deceptively quick – for instance, his goal for Everton against Manchester City last October that saw him surge through City’s defence from just inside their half to score.

For Mourinho, it means he can play his trademark spoiler game while still offering a huge threat on the break. Zlatan Ibrahimovic could hold the ball up in the same way last season and was arguably more skilled than Lukaku, but he didn’t have the legs that the young Belgian does.

He’s much more a striker in the Mourinho mould – remember Diego Costa also succeeded under him – than Zlatan and, dare I say it, he fits the bill more than Alvaro Morata too.

Whatever differences existed between Mourinho and Lukaku at Chelsea are clearly now buried, and so I expect Jose to get the best out of the Belgian next season.

#2 He’s still young and hasn’t hit his prime yet

Even though he’s been around a while – six years in England to be exact – Lukaku is still very young

United’s signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016/17 was obviously a success for the most part as the charismatic Swede netted 28 goals in 46 appearances, 17 of which came in the Premier League. The only problem? Ibrahimovic was always just a stop-gap and a short-term solution given he’s clearly in the twilight of his career.

His season at United was his 17^th top flight one and judging by his severe knee injury, he isn’t as bulletproof as he once was.

Lukaku meanwhile feels like he’s been around for ages in the Premier League – 2016/17 was his fifth full season in England’s top league and before that he played two full seasons for Anderlecht in Belgium – but he’s still only 24 years old.

It means that for all the criticism he gets regarding his first touch and his work-rate and so on, realistically he’s probably nowhere near his prime yet.

Even if you argue Ibrahimovic was past his prime when he hit 17 goals in the league, judging by past successful Premier League strikers such as Alan Shearer, Robin Van Persie, Les Ferdinand and Jamie Vardy, there’s nothing to suggest that a striker peaks in his mid 20’s.

Particularly for a player who relies more on his power and physicality than his pace like Lukaku, the likelihood is that he’ll continue to get better until he hits his early 30’s.

That means United could well have a dangerous, top-level striker on their books for the best part of a decade. And even if he cost a lot of money, if he lasts that long at the top, it probably means he’s been worth it.

#3 He’s got world-class players around him

Surrounded by world-class talent like Paul Pogba, Lukaku is bound to succeed

Lukaku’s time at Everton was undoubtedly a success – last season saw his best goal tally yet as he struck 26 times in 39 games, a total only beaten by the incredibly prolific Harry Kane. And yet – and I mean no disrespect to Everton or their players – he wasn’t playing in a title-challenging team surrounded by world-class players.

Yes, Everton finished just one spot below United in the league, but the gap between the two was eight points – a chasm in relative terms.

It can also be argued that United underperformed last year as Mourinho settled into his new surroundings, and with the players they have in their squad, a real title challenge should be mounted this season. Comparing Everton’s squad last season to United’s, and again no offense is meant, but there’s no contest.

Everton’s attacking players – the likes of Ross Barkley, Kevin Mirallas and Enner Valencia – are good, granted, but United have proven world-class talent to back Lukaku up.

Just a glance at their attacking firepower is frightening. Lukaku now has the likes of Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford beside him. If he can fit into that line-up quickly then you can expect fireworks and a lot of goals based on his previous.

And that isn’t even getting into the fact that most likely, Mourinho hasn’t finished spending yet. With the huge pay packets of Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic now off the wage bill, the likelihood of Mourinho buying another huge name – Ivan Perisic has been linked – is high.

With better players around him, Lukaku can only be expected to deliver better things. And given what he delivered at Everton was good already, who knows how well he can do at Old Trafford?

#4 He’s scored loads of goals for weaker sides in fewer games

Lukaku has scored goals wherever he’s been, including at weaker sides like West Brom

While Lukaku’s goal return since his loan move to West Brom in 2012/13 has largely been fantastic, what’s sometimes overlooked is that he’s been scoring goals for sides who haven’t been challenging for the title. And he’s also been doing it in fewer games that some of his contemporaries too.

For instance, in 2016/17 Lukaku scored 26 goals in all competitions. Alexis Sanchez in comparison scored 30; the difference is in the number of games. Lukaku only played 39 for Everton as they weren’t in Europe and were knocked out of both domestic cups early. Sanchez meanwhile played in 51 games for Arsenal, including eight in the Champions League.

Another point to add is that the highest league position a side that Lukaku has featured heavily in was Everton’s 5^th place finish in 2013/14. Outside of that, his teams have finished in largely average spots – an 8^th place, two 11^th places and a 7^th place last season.

In contrast, the lowest United have ever finished is 7^th – the David Moyes season – and they’ve only dropped out of the top five once more than that.

With more games to play – remember United are in the Champions League this season – and a much higher chance of challenging for the title, Lukaku is now in a far better position to be able to score more goals. If he could average over 20 for a side like Everton consistently, what can he do for United?

#5 He’s United’s main man

Marcus Rashford is one of only four strikers currently at United

Assuming United don’t now go out and buy another proven world-class striker – and realistically, I don’t think that’s likely given their history and Mourinho’s preferred tactical style – there can be no doubting that Lukaku, like he was at Everton, is the main man at Old Trafford when it comes to strikers.

Look at his competition – United currently only have four strikers in total listed in their squad and that’s including Lukaku. Of the others, Anthony Martial has often been used as an attacking midfielder or a winger and apparently has problems with his attitude too.

Marcus Rashford’s goalscoring record is relatively strong, but he’s also been played out wide by Mourinho and at just 19 years old there are still question marks over his long-term future. The other is James Wilson, and given he’s been loaned out twice in the last two seasons, it’s difficult to even call him a factor.

United may well decide to buy someone to compliment Lukaku, or they could even bring back Zlatan Ibrahimovic on another short-term deal if he can manage to get himself fit following his knee injury, but given they just spent £75m on him, it’s pretty clear that the Belgian is Mourinho’s top striker.

He’s also the new big star of the side given Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney are now both gone and Paul Pogba has firmly settled in.

With proven Premier League pedigree behind him, the chances of Lukaku needing a long settling in period ala Pogba are unlikely. Which means the United fans now have a new hero to get behind, and that will probably spur Lukaku on to great success at Old Trafford.