5 reasons why Romelu Lukaku was Jose Mourinho's inspired summer buy

Modified Sep 14, 2017 17:07 GMT

Romelu Lukaku celebrates the victory over Basel in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night

#4 The need to prove a point to Mourinho

Lukaku briefly played under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho inherited Romelu Lukaku upon his second coming at Chelsea, but saw little of the striker as he headed for Everton on-loan ahead of a permanent switch after returning from West Brom.

Lukaku and Mourinho have enjoyed something of a colourful exchange of words in the press during the time of his departure, although the Belgian's youthful exuberance was often cut short by the sharp-witted and experienced tongue of the Portuguese mind-games master.

But, there was always a respect between the pair, and at present, a mutual appreciation and understanding of how each party can benefit from the other.

Also read: Why Manchester United are better off with Romelu Lukaku than Alvaro Morata

Compounded by the long-term injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mourinho was desperate to bring in a proven goalscorer ahead of Manchester United's return to the UEFA Champions League, and having since proven himself as a leading English Premier League striker, it was clear who would be near the top of Mourinho's wanted list.

About the author

As a freelance football writer, I have extensive experience of covering the European game for a wide range of top level digital platforms and printed publications.

I have performed a number of exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the football world, and have reported live from the finals of UEFA EURO, Champions League fixtures, Europa League fixtures, Women's Champions League fixtures as well as top international and club fixtures during the course of my career.

My role has enabled me to sit down exclusively with the likes of Thierry Henry, Edgar Davids, Gareth Bale, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs, Aaron Ramsey and many others to discuss their experiences of competing at the very highest-level.

For Sportskeeda, I will be taking a closer look at the stories behind the stories from across the European game, with regular exclusive features on the players, clubs and managers making the headlines.

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Edited by Aakanksh Sanketh