[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s a very strange topic of conversation amongst Everton fans, but one view which most fans I speak to have in common. Get rid. The general view of our record £28m signing from Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku, is that he’s lazy, not as good as he thinks he is and that his first touch is a throw-in. Certain performances back up these theories, especially his game against Italy when he was mocked by such footballing legends as Robbie Savage and Jason Cundy. However, he then went on to score two very good goals against the Republic of Ireland, leaving Everton fans scratching their heads.
Do we want him to go so we can cash in, even though we don’t necessarily need the money any more? Could we attract anyone better with us not being in Europe despite having a ‘project’ that could bring multiple trophies to Goodison over the coming years? “Cor” by the way.
Something strange has happened though. Ronald Koeman has come in and is talking about his squad in terms of keeping it together. Even Lukaku’s agent Mino Raiola said on Tuesday. “If he leaves, it has to be a good deal for all parties involved.” That is no longer a ‘when’ meaning it’s not a done deal. And this is the man who said everything would be tied up for him to leave before the Euros started.
Let’s have a look at the case for him to stay and go.
The Case For Letting R. Lukaku Leave Everton Football Club
It’s hard to argue that ‘Big Rom’s’ performances were poor towards the end of the 2015/16 campaign. He had been on such a hot streak of goal scoring that many believed that, as Martinez continued to be bizarre, his goals actually kept us away from a relegation dogfight. And who’s to say that Roberto would’ve been able to keep us up after the Wigan debacle? I’ve just checked – once he beat our (dire) record of 16 goals in a PL season on 1st March he didn’t score another goal in the league.
It’s fair to say that Lukaku has believed for some time that he’s bigger and better than Everton. He has said so himself in terms of his ambitions of playing for a Champions League club, and you know what: Everton fans don’t seem to mind that. What they do want to see is someone trying their heart out until they leave for a huge fee with maybe a trophy to show for it. Instead we get him making comments about the Everton team losing the manager, and wanting to play for – well, every CL team in Europe it seems.
The one major thing he has in his favour is the stats. Regularly compared to Messi, Ronaldo et al is his goals record for goals scored before his 23rd birthday. It’s all very impressive but he’s going to have to improve massively to keep ahead of those names!
Now being 23 years of age, he has scored 61 goals in 127 games for Everton. That’s very impressive and the fact that he’s got 45 goals in two seasons for Everton (despite playing pretty much every game) should put him up there as an Everton ‘Great’ already.
The question for Lukaku and his agent (and his Dad of course) is who would want him? He wouldn’t go to Leicester I’m sure, doubt he’d fit Spurs and I can’t see Arsenal paying £65m for anyone any time soon. Man United will have Zlatan, whilst Man City already have Aguero as their main man plus plenty of backups just in case. He’d have to be the number one striker wherever he went. Apart from Real Madrid and Barca could any other club in mainland Europe afford him?
Lukaku has mentioned going back to Chelsea as he has ‘unfinished business’ with the club he openly supports (” target=”_blank”>odds of 2.4 that he goes to Chelsea with SkyBet). As Costa is talking to Atletico Madrid It’s a big decision for him as they will be looking for a striker. Does Lukaku match the vision that Conte has though based on the recent Italian displays? I certainly think the new manager will be looking for someone who runs a lot more. Surprised he’s not put a bid in for Jamie Vardy as yet really! Either way, our history with Chelsea would mean we’d get an awful lot of money for him that might just be too much to turn down.
The Case For Keeping R. Lukaku At Everton Football Club
Well for one it’ll annoy his agent and his Dad, but should not be the reason why we’d want to keep someone who, to be fair, is seen as one of the best young strikers in Europe. People have been bandying around the price of £65m and whilst he may never go for that much he’s obviously admired by some very large clubs.
The stats mentioned above about his scoring record is something that we’ll no doubt be telling our Grandkids about some day. The goal he scored against Chelsea will be spoken about for many years and shown on telly over and over. We know he can get better too with a bit of confidence and a manager that gets the ball to him in the right positions. It’s crazy that we’re criticising a striker who scored 25 goals for us last season in all competitions after putting up with Joe-Max Moore, Andy “don’t call me Andy” Johnson and James Beattie in recent years scuffing chances wide. He’s averaging a whole load more goals than Duncan Ferguson every season who is idolised by Everton fans, young and old.
We’ve all seen him point into space and then hide behind a defender, expecting a ball that dissects the defender or is nudged on by Johnny X, the invisible striker. It’s incredibly infuriating for his team-mates and the thing is, he gets annoyed too. If Koeman comes in and gets him running across defenders or simply making better runs for Barkley to pass the ball into he could score even more for us.
So why not keep him for at least another year. We have the money to buy some quality to play alongside him and have a manager that will change the style of the team. The football will get more exciting, Big Rom will get more chances and we won’t have to worry about starting the campaign with Niasse and Kone up front. Oh god, just imagine that… If you like to bet on Everton then you can get odds of 2.62 that Rom stays at Everton with SkyBet
So make up your own minds about this one. Personally I’ve been happy for him to go for some time as I don’t think he’s worth £65m and the money would come in useful. However the way Koeman is talking… The names we’re being linked with… This could be the start of something special you know!
COYB!