Manchester United finally secured the top-class striker they needed with a confirmation yesterday that Romelu Lukaku had sealed a move from Everton to Old Trafford, arriving on a deal worth a whopping £75m initially with the figure potentially rising to as much as £100m when bonuses and the transfer of Wayne Rooney in the other direction is taken into account.
Landing the Belgian striker is a significant coup for the Red Devils, especially as they beat Premier League champions Chelsea in the race to sign the 24-year-old who already boasts a spectacular record in English football, having netted over 100 league goals during his career to date- which includes loan stints with Everton and West Brom.
Question marks naturally surround a deal though due to the price, which is customary for any big signing in the Premier League, and it’s since emerged that Jose Mourinho decided against a move for Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette- who sealed a club-record move to the Gunners from French outfit Lyon.
Atletico Madrid’s transfer ban meant that Arsenal had an easy passage to signing the 26-year-old French striker, who boasted an impressive record of 129 goals in 275 games for the French side, but The Guardian indicates the situation could have been different.
According to those reports, Manchester United sent scouts to watch Lacazette but they were left unconvinced by the French striker’s suitability for the Premier League- with concerns raised regarding his physical attributes and big game mentality.
That leaves Lacazette under pressure to show that Manchester United were wrong in their assessments, whilst it also means Lukaku needs to hit the ground running to ensure he has a better season than Arsenal’s new star-man; otherwise fans will question the decision to snub a move for Lacazette.
Many strikers from Ligue 1 have historically had issues adapting to the Premier League though, including Manchester United flop Radamel Falcao, and the fact that Lukaku is already accustomed to the challenges of English football is a big bonus and it will be a major factor as to why the Belgian’s price-tag was significantly more expensive than Lacazette’s.
Both strikers are in-line to make their debuts for their new sides in the next week during the club’s pre-season tour, with Romelu Lukaku having trained with the Manchester United squad for the first-time today in North America, ahead of the Red Devils’ clash with LA Galaxy in the early hours of Saturday morning.