In appreciation of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku

You will have to excuse me for a moment as I put on my Everton fan boy pants.  It could get messy in the next few hundred words because Big Romelu Lukaku makes me as an Everton fan dream dreams that I have never had.  

Everton is a club that is historically relevant for being just not quite the best, but never poor enough to mingle with the Championship level crowd.  Highly coveted players (a young Wayne Rooney) are snapped up by the bullies of the world as they flex their financial muscles, so us Everton fans become attached to “stars” that could be categorized as 1B.

With the infusion of cash from the Farhad Morshiri takeover, Everton suddenly is not the penny-pinching bunch of years past and have stepped up into a new tax bracket.  What this means, when combined with the new TV deal, is that Everton can afford to pay huge wages to resign their most promising young talent.  That is in many ways how Tottenham have built their squad around wise investments in young players and further developing them.

This is where Big Romelu Lukaku plays in.  With his incredible scoring exploits, fifty league goals for Everton already, Lukaku is quite clearly a player every big club covets.  As evidence in this weekend’s match against West Ham, or the match against Manchester City, Lukaku can win points almost by himself.

At only 23-years-old, Lukaku has still plenty of time to continue his development and that is a scary prospect for Premier League opposition.  And now that Everton has surrounded their star striker with players capable of providing service (Yannick Bolasie) and a manager who while realizing contributions need to come from more than just Lukaku, has built a more well-rounded system, expect Everton to continue their push for a top four or five spot.

Statements like that from Everton fans aren’t nearly as far-fetched as in past seasons largely because of the qualities that Lukaku brings. Despite being outplayed for large stretches of the West Ham match, Everton was still able to put up a lopsided scoreline because of the poachers’ goals created and finished by Lukaku.

Unlike some poachers, Lukaku doesn’t just contribute in the goal scoring areas, but also in his defensive work and hold up play.  With his gigantic frame, Lukaku can and often does provide a target for under pressure midfielders and defenders who need to quickly play themselves out of trouble.  For the defensive work pressing and cutting off passing lanes, Everton fans can thank Ronald Koeman for this improvement as his system is tailored around Lukaku creating the first pressure.  Koeman demands accountability out of his players (look no further than dropping Ross Barkley) and isn’t afraid to provide corrective measures.

More from Everton FC

• Everton’s vibrant attack have led them to a dream start
• Everton showing Barca and Madrid how to manage their former talent
• Everton: Where can Wilfried Zaha fit best with the Toffees?
• For Everton, inconsistency means a vibrant transfer window is necessary
• Everton: Why the Yerry Mina injury blow could prove to be huge

Sure, Lukaku might not be around much longer without the carrot of European fixtures dangling before him, but who could blame the young man?  Everton fans need to realize they have caught lightning in a bottle and appreciate just how good this young man can be.  Fifty goals scored before the age of 24 is quite an accomplishment.

I for one will dream of Big Romelu Lukaku signing a long-term deal and staying with the club for the rest of his career.  Imagine, just eleven more goals until he breaks Duncan Ferguson’s Premier League era record for Everton goals and if we suppose Lukaku stays will Everton for another five or six years, could second place in Everton goal scoring history not be in play? (He trails Graeme Sharp by 109 for that title behind the impossible mark of Dixie Dean).