ONE TO POACH: Romelu Lukaku
16-year-old is potentially a world-beater
ANDERLECHT attacker Romelu Lukaku is the latest focus of our One to Poach feature.
Each week, we run the rule over one of the globe's hottest properties with a full report supplied by our friends at IMScouting.com.
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Name: Romelu Lukaku
Club: Anderlecht
Age: 16
Position: Striker
Statistics (Belgium Pro League & European football):
Appearances: 14, Goals: 6
Lukaku has been dubbed "the new Didier Drogba" as he is strong, fast and has a terrific scoring record at youth level.
At just 16 years old, the opening weeks of the 2009/2010 season have seen Romelu Lukaku emerge as potentially one of the best strikers in the world over the next few years. Even now he is already well known to the biggest clubs in European football and is likely to be the subject of much transfer speculation in the coming months.
Lukaku was born in Antwerp, but has Congolese origin, his father was a former professional football player Roger Lukaku. In all the youth teams Romelu played for, he scored more goals than the games he played. When he was six years old, he joined Lierse and played there until he was 12. At Lierse, he scored 130 goals in 68 games. Then he moved for one year to Brussels and, since then, has been at Anderlecht.
His first appearance in the Jupiler Pro League came late on in the second leg of the play-off decider for the championship against Standard Liege. This goes some way to illustrating the standing of Lukaku at Anderlecht, that they were willing to throw him on to change the destination of the title with 20 minutes of the season remaining.
In the early weeks of this season, Lukaku has established himself as a first choice starter at Anderlecht. Since the start of the season he has played 14 games in the Pro League and Europa League, scoring six goals.
Along with Mbark Boussoufa, Lukaku is one of the best attacking players in the Anderlecht team and the co-operation between these two has been impressive. Lukaku also became the youngest player to appear in the Champions League aged 16, against Lyon in the qualification matches which Anderlecht lost heavily to the French giants.
Lukaku's physique is something to be amazed by. He is only 16 years old but has the height of a basketball player (1.92m/6ft 3ins) and the strength of a wrestler (95kg/209lbs). He is predominantly left-footed but is equally adept with both and can also score with his right.
Due to his physical prowess, Lukaku is very strong in the air, which is almost unheard of for such a young player. His two most recent goals, in the victories over Mechelen and Lokeren were both scored with his head.
Thanks to some incredible performances so early on in his career, Lukaku has established himself as the new phenomenon of European football. Several teams from Europe have already started to show an interest in the young striker. Chelsea offered Lukaku and his father one million euros to join the Premier League giants but Anderlecht have vowed to hold on to Lukaku for as long as it is in his best interests.
Real Madrid, AC Milan and Manchester United have also been linked with a move for Lukaku and, last month, Arsene Wenger sent former Arsenal captain Tony Adams to run the rule over the youngster in the 2-0 win over Charleroi.
Yet, Lukaku has already said that he will not leave soon, he signed his first contract this year until 2012, and he has already shown with Chelsea that it will take more than money for him to move in the near future.
Anderlecht will want to keep their treasure for as long as possible, and they know that if he will continue to grow and improve his, as long as they keep him, they will get more money for him when he eventually does move on.
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This article has 2 comments
Alex Smith
Left back, 18 years old
Fulham Football Club
I have known him since primary school, and hes a superb talent, coming through Fulhams youth system, signing a pro contract at 17.
By Hugo Driscoll. Posted November 8 2009 at 1:13 PM.
could you look at eden hazard i think in a couple of years he could be as good or even better than cristiano ronaldo
By steven . Posted November 8 2009 at 12:55 PM.