5 players who can replace Romelu Lukaku at Manchester United
Jose Mourinho made a bold statement by dropping Romelu Lukaku for Manchester United against Everton, and time’s running out for the Belgian at Old Trafford.
A £75 million signing from the Toffees last summer, the 25-year-old arrived as a replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He was decent if a bit inconsistent, in his first season at the club. In 51 games, he scored 27 goals, including 16 in the Premier League.
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This season though has been nothing short of disastrous. After a promising start in which he scored 4 goals in 4 matches, he’s come under severe criticism for his performances of late.
His movement on and off the ball has been poor, and so is his finishing. His passing and link-up play, for which he earned praise last season, has also been unusually sloppy.
Mourinho seems to be slowly losing confidence in him, but probably not enough to warrant a sale in January.
However, the Portuguese manager himself is under severe pressure. If he doesn’t last until the winter, there’s no saying how much patience a new manager would show with Lukaku.
So let’s take a look at 5 exciting players Manchester United could target as a replacement, who could be available for a bargain:
Ciro Immobile (Lazio and Italy)
Ciro Immobile’s rise ever since his failed spell at Borussia Dortmund has been truly incredible.
Immobile is an academy graduate of Juventus, but only ever made 3 appearances for their senior team. After a bunch of loan spells, he moved on to Genoa, and then Juve’s local rivals Torino, where he truly became one of the most lethal finishers in the Serie A.
He scored 22 goals in 33 appearances for them before Dortmund signed him. Two unsuccessful loan spells later, Lazio snapped him up for €8.75 million in 2016.
He’s been a revelation in Rome ever since. He scored 41 goals in 47 games for them last season, and he already has 7 goals in 2018/19.
Known for his work-rate, pace, and ability to exploit spaces, Immobile would be the perfect Jose Mourinho player. Immobile is capable of playing anywhere across a front line, but his excellent finishing means that he thrives when utilized as a traditional number 9.
He’s already 28 though, and would only be a temporary fix for Manchester United. But van Persie was 29 when Sir Alex signed him, and we all know how that turned out.
He didn’t make his Italy debut until 2014 and was a part of their underwhelming campaigns at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Euros in France.
He’s currently valued at around £45m, but thanks to his age, United wouldn’t have to pay much more than that to sign him from Lazio. A prolific goalscorer like him for that sort of fee would be a bargain in the current market.