Romelu Lukaku | Napoli watch

RedStarUnited said:
No - Because I am pretty sure we were never going to get anyone else willing to pay 75m for him again. We sold at the most opportune moment given ours and Inters needs.
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Not opportune for us by any means.
The italian clubs were interested in him all summer long and besides you never sell a player like that without replacing him first, specially when clubs know you are desperate
 
kouroux said:
I just have a question, what is this thing we're supposed to be winning anyway ? We face more "smaller" teams than bigger teams all year long so it wouldn't be a bad thing to keep a player who performs well against them, specially with poor depth in attack.

I don't think the club is that good to not need a guy like Lukaku
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Actually his dry spell last season included many small teams. He scored 15 in 45 in all competitions, and there were several games in which he scored 2 or more, such as the PSG game. You can just imagine how many games he went dry, and the biggest problem is that his all around game is poor, so when he's having a bad game he's reaallllly bad and breaks up attacks.

Martial has been in and out of the team this season, but his goal scoring record is already better than Lukaku, he's scoring at least 1 in 2 at the moment. And he's not even a proper replacement, more like a stop gap.
 
mu4c_20le said:
Actually his dry spell last season included many small teams. He scored 15 in 45 in all competitions, and there were several games in which he scored 2 or more, such as the PSG game. You can just imagine how many games he went dry, and the biggest problem is that his all around game is poor, so when he's having a bad game he's reaallllly bad.

Martial has been in and out of the team this season, but his goal scoring record is already better than Lukaku, he's scoring at least 1 in 2 at the moment. And he's not even a proper replacement, more like a stop gap.
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My general point is that if the club was hell bent on selling him then we should have gotten a replacement before his departure.

However bad his scoring record was last season, he is an option we could have used so far. We left it late to find a replacement and sold him. That was crazy stupid. Basically praying that neither Rashford nor Martial get injured
 
kouroux said:
My general point is that if the club was hell bent on selling him then we should have gotten a replacement before his departure.

However bad his scoring record was last season, he is an option we could have used so far. We left it late to find a replacement and sold him. That was crazy stupid. Basically praying that neither Rashford nor Martial get injured
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Yeah i dont think anyone can disagree with that. The problem though is that this thread keeps getting bumped everytime he does well, and someone says we shouldn't have sold him. With our limited funds, we were never going to properly replace him after spending 120m on the defense imo. It was always between him and Maguire. I am more disappointed that we didn't manage to bring in Mandzukic; I really hope the deal itself fell through rather than us pulling out because we thought Greenwood was going to be the next Mbappe.
 
AceUnited said:
Are you seriously comparing the Italian one and half horse league to the premier league?
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What does serie A being a one and half horse race have to do with the quality of the bottom half of the table?
 
kouroux said:
I just have a question, what is this thing we're supposed to be winning anyway ? We face more "smaller" teams than bigger teams all year long so it wouldn't be a bad thing to keep a player who performs well against them, specially with poor depth in attack.

I don't think the club is that good to not need a guy like Lukaku
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Well, again he didn't want to be here. You want to keep a player like that? Nor could the club turn their nose up on 70m, when we overpaid in the first place. The issue is the lack of replacement.

Also there's a difference of facing a smaller team, than the mentality of one. Norwich is a small team, but don't necessarily play like one in their style, they are small in status but the way they play is Rashford and Martials bread and butter. Bournemouth were like them but have become more solid and less gung ho
 
starman said:
Well, again he didn't want to be here. You want to keep a player like that? Nor could the club turn their nose up on 70m, when we overpaid in the first place. The issue is the lack of replacement
Also there's a difference of facing a smaller team, than the mentality of one. Norwich is a small team, but don't necessarily play like one in their style, their are small in status but the way they play is Rashford and Martials bread and butter. Bournemouth were like them but have become more solid and less gung ho
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Well yeah, the club's needs surpasses his little ego. He wouldn't be the first player in the history to be denied a transfer, who would sulk and eventually resumes his focus because at the end of the season there is this big international tournament.
The issue is indeed lack of replacement but since after a while, it was clear no one was gonna get brought in as a replacement, Lukaku should have been kept. He officially joined Inter on August 8th, which was pretty late for the PL summer window. Why did the club approve of this if we couldn't buy anybody so close to the end of the window ?
There are always players who wanna leave every club every transfer window, not all of them are given this freedom.
 
kouroux said:
Well yeah, the club's needs surpasses his little ego. He wouldn't be the first player in the history to be denied a transfer, who would sulk and eventually resumes his focus because at the end of the season there is this big international tournament.
The issue is indeed lack of replacement but since after a while, it was clear no one was gonna get brought in as a replacement, Lukaku should have been kept. He officially joined Inter on August 8th, which was pretty late for the PL summer window. Why did the club approve of this if we couldn't buy anybody so close to the end of the window ?
There are always players who wanna leave every club every transfer window, not all of them are given this freedom.
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He only wanted to leave when he knew he was not going to be first choice. Not sure how we came to a conclusion that he is not good enough for us.
 
bond19821982 said:
He only wanted to leave when he knew he was not going to be first choice. Not sure how we came to a conclusion that he is not good enough for us.
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He was angling for a move when Mourinho was the manager, it started around October 2018.
 
UncleBob said:
Which part didn't you understand ?

Personally i find it a bit odd that people have such love for Lukaku, it would suggest they are bigger fans of the player than the club.

Lets look at his time at the club, he has a good first season at the club,he has his obvious issues but overall it's promising and hopefully something we can build on, he then returns to the club looking like he's gone full Akinfenwa, clearly in no shape whatsoever to play football at the highest level, he'd make a few runs and spend the majority of the match looking knackered. Between the start of the season and 1st of jan he scored 7 goals for the club, combine that with his absurd holier-than-thou attitude, telling other players to shut up and deal with the pressure, only to instantly mouth off about sodding off to Italy as soon as it was made clear that he'd no longer have the same position in the squad. Some strong mentality that, yeah, proper big man. Oh and yeah, it was then followed by him and his agents attempting to force the club into accepting lowball offers from Inter, how much pre-season was he involved in again ? But yeah, lets rub one off for Lukaku and pretend we should've kept him.
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And the time he was on a massive sulk and wouldn’t celebrate when he scored a goal through his bad patch.

Good riddance
 
The amount of vitriol against him always surprises me here. The only ones who are rewriting history are those suggesting he's not a good goalscorer, that's utter bullshit. He scored 17 goals in the league for a Tony Pulis coached West Brom side ffs!

I didn't have much problem with selling him but not signing a replacement was utterly mental, and its ultimately going to cost Ole his job. We can't punish shitty teams which was Lukakus' bread and butter, oh well!
 
kouroux said:
Well yeah, the club's needs surpasses his little ego. He wouldn't be the first player in the history to be denied a transfer, who would sulk and eventually resumes his focus because at the end of the season there is this big international tournament.
The issue is indeed lack of replacement but since after a while, it was clear no one was gonna get brought in as a replacement, Lukaku should have been kept. He officially joined Inter on August 8th, which was pretty late for the PL summer window. Why did the club approve of this if we couldn't buy anybody so close to the end of the window ?
There are always players who wanna leave every club every transfer window, not all of them are given this freedom.
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Well if he wasn't sold this summer with Inters offer on the table, you run the risk of his value plummeting, who else was spending money the summer gone, let alone next summer on him given his United performances were on a downward trajectory.
And I am not convinced we would be much better off if he stayed anyway. It's all hindsight, yes he could have come in for Martial when he was injuried, but you can't foresee Martial being out for so long.
 
starman said:
Well if he wasn't sold this summer with Inters offer on the table, you run the risk of his value plummeting, who else was spending money the summer gone, let alone next summer on him given his United performances were on a downward trajectory.
And I am not convinced we would be much better off if he stayed anyway. It's all hindsight, yes he could have come in for Martial when he was injuried, but you can't foresee Martial being out for so long.
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Not for so long but you could defo foresee he would get injured, or even simply tired. It's not really hindsight, a lot of us were afraid that the attacking options were very thin and we would see its consequence throughout the season. Martial went injured early granted but the issue will remain the same if something isn't attempted in January.
What happened wasn't the hardest thing to predict IMHO. We asked for trouble when we went into the season with this squad. Hoping none of the main players get injured or go off form is crazy.
 
kouroux said:
Not for so long but you could defo foresee he would get injured, or even simply tired. It's not really hindsight, a lot of us were afraid that the attacking options were very thin and we would see its consequence throughout the season. Martial went injured early granted but the issue will remain the same if something isn't attempted in January.
What happened wasn't the hardest thing to predict IMHO. We asked for trouble when we went into the season with this squad. Hoping none of the main players get injured or go off form is crazy.
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Yes, but it doesnt equate to keeping a overpriced player who didn't want to be here
If we get Halaand in the January (doubt it) it will justify not getting someone in the summer, if we were holding out for the right player.
 
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mu4c_20le said:
Actually his dry spell last season included many small teams. He scored 15 in 45 in all competitions, and there were several games in which he scored 2 or more, such as the PSG game. You can just imagine how many games he went dry, and the biggest problem is that his all around game is poor, so when he's having a bad game he's reaallllly bad and breaks up attacks.

Martial has been in and out of the team this season, but his goal scoring record is already better than Lukaku, he's scoring at least 1 in 2 at the moment. And he's not even a proper replacement, more like a stop gap.
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In no way is Martial a better forward than Lukaku .When he scores 20 plus goals a season he can maybe have an arguement but even then Lukaku will still be a more rounded forward .
 
lsd said:
In no way is Martial a better forward than Lukaku .When he scores 20 plus goals a season he can maybe have an arguement but even then Lukaku will still be a more rounded forward .
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Lets give Martial a chance as a centre forward first. He's been a rotation player so far during his time here. Last season he score 10 PL goals 1623 mins. Lukaku hardly pulled up trees with 12 in 2130 mins
 
lsd said:
In no way is Martial a better forward than Lukaku .When he scores 20 plus goals a season he can maybe have an arguement but even then Lukaku will still be a more rounded forward .
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More rounded? Lukaku isnt rounded at all. If he doesnt score a goal it is like you are playing with 10.... actually it is even worse since he will ruin multiple promising moments with his touch. Martial is a much better and rounded player. Martial can score goals but also offer more. Martial can create something himself and his hold up play isnt bad either.

Selling Lukaku and placing Martial as CF has been a great decision. It is just very unfortunate that Martial got injured after starting the season really well.
 
I can understand how frustrating Lukaku's attitude was once he had decided to leave so I can understand how salty some comments are. But I just won't buy that he wasn't good enough when he has scored more goals this season than the entire United team.
 
starman said:
Yes, but it doesnt equate to keeping a overpriced player who didn't want to be here
If we get Halaand in the January (doubt it) it will justify not getting someone in the summer, if we were holding out for the right player.
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That's a big "if", by January the season might be over basically. Keeping an unhappy player isn't unheard of.
 
kouroux said:
That's a big "if", by January the season might be over basically. Keeping an unhappy player isn't unheard of.
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Theres a difference between Pogba, for example, who also doesn't want to be here, compared to Lukaku. Pogba's value will be the same this summer as the next and will have a number of suitors.
Lukaku's could have dramatically dropped
There's a lot of things to juggle selling him now, potentially saving 10s of millions in transfer fee, aswell as clearing 250k wages off the books for a player that would be spending most of his time on the bench.
You are convinced he would have made a major difference, that too is a big "if"..
 
Kush said:
The amount of vitriol against him always surprises me here. The only ones who are rewriting history are those suggesting he's not a good goalscorer, that's utter bullshit. He scored 17 goals in the league for a Tony Pulis coached West Brom side ffs!

I didn't have much problem with selling him but not signing a replacement was utterly mental, and its ultimately going to cost Ole his job. We can't punish shitty teams which was Lukakus' bread and butter, oh well!
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Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
 
Jean-Philippe Jason said:
I can understand how frustrating Lukaku's attitude was once he had decided to leave so I can understand how salty some comments are. But I just won't buy that he wasn't good enough when he has scored more goals this season than the entire United team.
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He's clearly a very, very useful striker. He does, however, need to play for a team that suits his abilities and has creative forces that will set him up with chances, and we clearly haven't had that in recent years.
 
Snow said:
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
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I think he just realised he's not wanted and not appreciated, so he wanted out by all means. We knew from very early on that Ole would prefer Rashford, and Lukaku must have felt as well that he didn't stand a chance.

Look at Fellaini - he fought for his place for years, but within weeks of Ole's arrival he left.
 
Snow said:
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
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His brother has very little to do with him, he opens his mouth to everything and everyone that's why journalist like to interview him everywhere he goes. I have never seen a player as bad as he is get that many interviews.
 
Amir said:
I think he just realised he's not wanted and not appreciated, so he wanted out by all means. We knew from very early on that Ole would prefer Rashford, and Lukaku must have felt as well that he didn't stand a chance.

Look at Fellaini - he fought for his place for years, but within weeks of Ole's arrival he left.
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The means that he uses to leave is what makes all the difference. Talking trash and being unprofessional is not cool. You're under a contract, act professional.
 
JPRouve said:
His brother has very little to do with him, he opens his mouth to everything and everyone that's why journalist like to interview him everywhere he goes. I have never seen a player as bad as he is get that many interviews.
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His brother that was hanging around with him in the summer when making those comments has very much something to do with him.
 
starman said:
Lets give Martial a chance as a centre forward first. He's been a rotation player so far during his time here. Last season he score 10 PL goals 1623 mins. Lukaku hardly pulled up trees with 12 in 2130 mins
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so we gonna use Lukakus worst season by far as measure stick for strikers? Why do people act like last season Lukaku was standard Lukaku?
 
starman said:
Theres a difference between Pogba, for example, who also doesn't want to be here, compared to Lukaku. Pogba's value will be the same this summer as the next and will have a number of suitors.
Lukaku's could have dramatically dropped
There's a lot of things to juggle selling him now, potentially saving 10s of millions in transfer fee, aswell as clearing 250k wages off the books for a player that would be spending most of his time on the bench.
You are convinced he would have made a major difference, that too is a big "if"..
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That's not a big "if" at all, expecting him to score a few goals against average opponents, he's basically built his career on scoring against the likes of Bournemouth, Palace etc etc...
It's less risky to go into the season with him than without a replacement for him. The whole thing was too predictable.
Going into the season with him beats going into the season without anyone
 
Seaman said:
so we gonna use Lukakus worst season by far as measure stick for strikers? Why do people act like last season Lukaku was standard Lukaku?
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Do you wish to cherrypick it in Lukaku's favour?
They are stats from last season in which Lukaku played over 500 minutes more and still managed only 2 goals more, what's the problem?
Can we not give Martial a entire season upfront before judgements are made?
 
Snow said:
Instead of showing back up with the team after the summer break he went to another club and had his brother badmouth the club to force a move. He's a decent player but he has lost all respect.
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He was with the team in the summer tour.

 
kouroux said:
That's not a big "if" at all, expecting him to score a few goals against average opponents, he's basically built his career on scoring against the likes of Bournemouth, Palace etc etc...
It's less risky to go into the season with him than without a replacement for him. The whole thing was too predictable.
Going into the season with him beats going into the season without anyone
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Well it's a big if, due to him scoring in patches. Last season he had 3 periods in the league in which he went 6 games without a goal
Maybe he's score goals and we are x points better off from it. The decision to sell him and not get a replacement will be down to what happens in January...
 
starman said:
Well it's a big if, due to him scoring in patches. Last season he had 3 periods in the league in which he went 6 games without a goal
Maybe he's score goals and we are x points better off from it. The decision to sell him and not get a replacement will be down to what happens in January...
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You're focused on his worst season in a long while, under special circumstances (Mourinho losing the team in the summer). Look at his resume, he's always been scoring goals so expecting him to score isn't something outlandish at all. Look at his scoring this season. It's one thing he's always done throughout his career despite his terrible tekkers, he'll always score goals.
 
kouroux said:
You're focused on his worst season in a long while, under special circumstances (Mourinho losing the team in the summer). Look at his resume, he's always been scoring goals so expecting him to score isn't something outlandish at all. Look at his scoring this season. It's one thing he's always done throughout his career despite his terrible tekkers, he'll always score goals.
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In patches, you are under the assumption he would have done it in the specific games we had trouble scoring, these claims can be made with confidence about world class players, which Lukaku is not.
And if Lukaku had stayed it would have been as bench player, not the one you are referencing when he's been deemed indispensable and the main man.
 
Snow said:
It was in August that he didn't return from Belgium.
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That was few days before closure of the window and even though he was mistaken to not return in time, he was about to leave already and the deal was about to get finalized. Not much of a big issue.
 
starman said:
In patches, you are under the assumption he would have done it in the specific games we had trouble scoring, these claims can be made with confidence about world class players, which Lukaku is not.
And if Lukaku had stayed it would have been as bench player, not the one you are referencing when he's been indispensable and the main man.
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He wouldn't have been a bench player the whole time Martial was injured and who knows, stranger things have happened than a player earning his way back to a manager's plans but that's another debate.
Let's look at facts, without him, we've been scoring less goals, whether he'd be a starter or an option off the bench.
He left on August 8th, our club had this small club mentality of selling him then because the offer could disappear before securing a replacement.
Each time we score more than 1 goal in a game we celebrate it like a miracle
 
Snow said:
The means that he uses to leave is what makes all the difference. Talking trash and being unprofessional is not cool. You're under a contract, act professional.
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Honestly, I can understand him - for two reasons.

A) Clubs can be bitches when treating a player they don't want. I'm not saying it was the case here, but those things do happen. We always want players to be professional, but people care a whole lot less when clubs don't do that.

B) A career in football is short. Clubs have existed for 100 years and will last for centuries, probably. A footballer has few years at the top. And as the summer went on it looked as if Lukaku might end up being stuck with us. I can understand him for being desperate to go. At the end of the day, once he got his transfer all that matters is that he gets goals for Inter.
 
Amir said:
Honestly, I can understand him - for two reasons.

A) Clubs can be bitches when treating a player they don't want. I'm not saying it was the case here, but those things do happen. We always want players to be professional, but people care a whole lot less when clubs don't do that.

B) A career in football is short. Clubs have existed for 100 years and will last for centuries, probably. A footballer has few years at the top. And as the summer went on it looked as if Lukaku might end up being stuck with us. I can understand him for being desperate to go. At the end of the day, once he got his transfer all that matters is that he gets goals for Inter.
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A: How were United unprofessional towards him?

B: You think he's getting paid more at Inter than at United?
 
kouroux said:
He wouldn't have been a bench player the whole time Martial was injured and who knows, stranger things have happened than a player earning his way back to a manager's plans but that's another debate.
Let's look at facts, without him, we've been scoring less goals, whether he'd be a starter or an option off the bench.
He left on August 8th, our club had this small club mentality of selling him then because the offer could disappear before securing a replacement.
Each time we score more than 1 goal in a game we celebrate it like a miracle
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Take the Liverpool game. He would not have started, Ole would still have gone with Rashford and James. He would not have started yesterday either with all of the main front 3 available.
Newcastle, West ham and Southampton games he probably starts. Would he of made the difference in them, maybe, maybe not....
I will always though take the gamble of selling and getting 70m back for him.
 
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