Romelu Lukaku bagged another fine goal at the weekend to take his season tally in the league to 24. His strike also made it nine goals in nine games at Goodison Park for the former Chelsea and West Brom man, and took Everton’s winning run at home to eight on the bounce.
The Toffees admittedly struggled early on in the season, but given the changes at the club over the summer, that can be forgiven. Since the turn of the year, however, the Toffees have gone from strength to strength, with Lukaku being the spearhead of their drastically improved form.
Given his such fine form, there have of course been numerous rumours with regards to Lukaku’s future, including talks of a possible move back to Stamford Bridge in the summer should Diego Costa part ways with Chelsea.
A big money move the striker certainly deserves, but is it the right thing for him? Here are five reasons Romelu Lukaku needs to stay at Everton beyond this coming summer…
He’s still young…
Considering Lukaku has nearly one hundred Premier League goals to his name, and is currently Everton’s highest ever scorer in the modern top division, you could be forgiven for forgetting he’s still only 23-years-old.
With such a long and bright future ahead of him, what is the rush for a mega-money move? We’ve seen in recent years a number of high profile youngsters make huge moves too early in their careers, so why fall into the same trap?
Everton are on the up
The Toffees struggled slightly under Ronald Koeman at the start of the season but Everton have been – alongside Tottenham – the team to beat since the turn of the year. In fact, if the Premier League had started on the 1st of January, Everton would be 2nd in the table.
That improvement indicates that the Blue half of Merseyside is finally moving in the right direction after a few stalemate years under Roberto Martinez, and that is likely to continue into next season and beyond.
Goodison Hero
Every football player wants to be admired and adored by their home fans. That notion is especially true for strikers. A forward who scores regularly is more often than not the most revered of any player at a club.
That is what Romelu Lukaku already is, a fan favourite. The Goodison faithful adore him, and by the looks of it, he adores them too. That relationship between club, player and fans is hard to find and should not be underestimated in terms of importance when it comes to having a good career.
The Belgian has the opportunity to go down in history as one of, if not the, club’s greatest ever player should he continue the way he is going.
Opportunity
Chelsea paid £18million for Lukaku asa teenager when he was banging in the goals for his boyhood club Anderlecht. While it wasn’t a bank breaking fee, it was still an phenomenal amount for a youngster.
If anything is to be learned from that move, however, it’s that a big fee and a big club doesn’t necessarily promise opportunity. Lukaku learned that the hard way at Chelsea. While the likelihood of first team football is infinitely more likely now, it isn’t a given.
A Point to prove
The race for the Golden Boot is is hotting up and Lukaku currently leads the charge. It looks unlikely given his form that anyone is going to catch him. It is also likely he will reach 30 goals for the season, a feat not done by many in the past.
If he is indeed to win the Golden Boot, Lukaku needs to prove he is not a one-season wonder. Undoubtedly he has already done that with his numerous goals already, but this season has been above and beyond. Staying with Everton and repeating the same achievement will only cement his position as one of the world’s best.
And he will still only be 24.
