Transferred for just under £60m from Manchester United to Inter over the summer, Romelu Lukaku currently has 23 goals in 35 appearances this season, as well as five assists.
However, when he was needed the most at the weekend against Juventus, the Belgian struggled as his side slipped further away from a Serie A title, now sitting eight points behind Lazio with a game in hand.
The former Everton forward was seen as ‘the worst’ for his side by Gazzetta dello Sport, also drawing criticism from Paolo Di Canio, who was a guest on Sky Calcio Club over the weekend.
Relayed by Passione Inter, he said: “For me Lukaku, isn’t a surprise like it is for you. He’ll score again, maybe he’ll arrive at an average of one goal per game at the end of the season, but only against the small teams where he can impose himself with his physicality.
“This is what I’ve always said and seen in his seven years in the Premier League. He might improve, he still has many years of career ahead of him, but today, I was not surprised.”
Rarely playing for Chelsea, Lukaku enjoyed some of his best years in England at Everton between 2013 and 2017, first arriving at Goodison Park on loan before being bought for £32m later.
Good morning.
Gazzetta Della Sport rather more impressed yesterday with Juve’s PL recruits than Inter’s.
Lukaku named Il Peggiore (the worst) in 2-0 Juve victory. Ramsey scored first goal. pic.twitter.com/U5qr3SNr2t
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) March 9, 2020
He then earned himself a very expensive (around £80m) transfer to Manchester United, where he spent two seasons under José Mourinho and then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, although the latter struggled to fit him in his plans, which led to his long winded transfer to Inter.
Throughout his time in England’s top-tier, Lukaku was often accused of disappearing when it mattered the most against the bigger teams, finding the back of the net with more ease against the likes of West Ham (11 goals in 12 games), Southampton (nine in 11) or Bournemouth (nine in five) instead of Chelsea (three in 12) or Arsenal (three in 13).
Of course, the level of defenders will be different, but many will point at this problem as to why he was never considered in the same bracket as the Sergio Agüeros, despite scoring 113 goals Premier League goals in 252 appearances by the age of 25.
By comparison, the Manchester City forward has 15 goals in 18 games against Chelsea, 12 in 18 against Tottenham and 11 in 15 against Arsenal.
It seems that criticism has followed him to Italy, and he’s struggling to shake it off, even if he has scored twice against arch rivals Milan in two games or bagged a pair against Napoli in the one match he’s played against them.
Thankfully for him, as Di Canio said, the striker has time on his to prove doubters wrong.
