We wouldn't have got 65Mil for him this summer though.
Selling Lukaku...
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I will make a prediction for you. Ole will win more CLs with us than pep or Klopp.
This x100. Lukaku should never have played for United.
To be fair, unless we somehow landed Lewandowski or Aguero (which we had a chance of pretty much nill) almost any player would have been a downgrade. As a pure #9 even at his age with United Zlaten was truly magical. Just a ridiculous combo of being able to hold people off the ball to lay-it off, first touch/close control, finish in the air, finish in the box, etc. While not the best of his generation (which goes to guys like Messi and Ronaldo), his overall set of skills is among the most unique I've ever seen to have such ridiculous technique at 6'5.
I don't think any of the primary rumored targets that summer would have gotten close to being Ibra. If I remember correctly it was Morata, Lukaku, and Belotti (I could be missing a fourth). Not to say, I'm not really glad with how we re-couped most of what we spent on Lukaku, and have replaced him quite easily with the emergence of Martial, Rashford, and Greenwood.
He's not a bad striker, I mean he does have 25 goals for Inter already. The fact he was sold for that fee shouldn't be a shock to anyone in todays market, especially not United fans seeing as we paid 75m for him 2 years before.
He definitely isn't right for us though, either in style of play or attitude and I absolutely see why we shipped him out. It gave Martial his position, shirt number and most of all confidence back, and allowed Greenwood to come through. We've easily replaced his goals and more, and made a tidy profit while doing so. Not just the 65m we received for Lukaku, but also in unlocking some of the value tied up in Martial, which was being squandered under Jose. It made sense for all parties to move him on. Ole took a hammering for not replacing him, so it took Travellers. Fair play to him.
He definitely isn't right for us though, either in style of play or attitude and I absolutely see why we shipped him out. It gave Martial his position, shirt number and most of all confidence back, and allowed Greenwood to come through. We've easily replaced his goals and more, and made a tidy profit while doing so. Not just the 65m we received for Lukaku, but also in unlocking some of the value tied up in Martial, which was being squandered under Jose. It made sense for all parties to move him on. Ole took a hammering for not replacing him, so it took Travellers. Fair play to him.
If we had got Griezmann this summer I wonder what would have happened. It seemed we moved to Lukaku, Morata and Belotti when we decided to not sign Griezmann anymore.
In my opinion, Martial isn't a natural striker. He's going through a good period now, but so are the rest of the team
Saying that I'd still take him over Lukaku all day. One of the best decisions we've made in the last few years selling him.
He slowed our game down, always looked too heavy/sluggish, clumsy etc
Saying that I'd still take him over Lukaku all day. One of the best decisions we've made in the last few years selling him.
He slowed our game down, always looked too heavy/sluggish, clumsy etc
Absolutely, waiting for attacking signings did hurt us, but selling Lukaku was the right decision. Waiting until January to bring in Bruno probably wasn’t. I think that decision alone could be why we’re not yet top 4. I think we would be fighting for 2nd.
the fact is we will never know.
however, let’s be frank, what a load of crap.
overweight, arrogant tool - that’s Lukuku. Not fit to ever have played for us. Look at the guys we have playing up front, Lukuku couldn’t do that.
1 goal in 23 appearances against the top 6. He’s laughable. After the showing today, to think some fans still would have wanted him at Utd is beyond belief
Exactly. He’s fitness troubles we’re all of his own making. He was a terrible professional at Utd. We were laughing all the way to the bank when Inter wanted him. If he was still here stinking up the bench, we would be lucky to get half that amount this summer, and not just because of Covid.
No idea, although, I never got the impression that Griezmann would have been a pure #9 for Jose. Would have thought the idea would be to use him as either a supporting striker or where Rashford/Greenwood currently play. Maybe that would have got Rashford or Martial permanent time there, but again, Jose probably would have no patience for the inconsistency of a young #9 no matter how promising.
I know it never would have worked at the time given how Jose operated, but my dream (at the time) that summer would have been trying Martial back at #9 full-time while going out for Ousmane Dembele, but even with a more offensive and youth-oriented coach, that still has potential for being a disaster given Martial's inconsistency, and Dembele's inability to stay healthy. It probably would have, but a muppet can dream.
Are you serious? Was that the entire time he was here or did you just purposely left out let's say his game 24 and 25? Do you have any stats on number of assists he got against top 6?
Good post.
What?I would have thought it was obvious, he played against top 6 sides 23 times for Utd and scored 1 goal.
A pathetic tally.
Did we actually buy him for 75 mil? I thought it was 60mil plus Rooney. Everton declared to everyone that Rooney was worth 30mil, hence they sold Lukaku for 90 mil. But to us Rooney was a liability due to his wages rather than worth 30mil
Short term hit for long term gain. Luckily short term hit was very short.
I wanted us to replace Lukaku with right forward, not a pure 9 as right wing was our biggest problem area. Now that Greenwood has stepped up and looks quality player already, Ole's decision can be justified.
Selling him was absolutely correct decision, whether we replaced him or not.
I wanted us to replace Lukaku with right forward, not a pure 9 as right wing was our biggest problem area. Now that Greenwood has stepped up and looks quality player already, Ole's decision can be justified.
Selling him was absolutely correct decision, whether we replaced him or not.
You guys need to look back at the threads when Martial was injured and Rashford was playing CF 
We sold Lukaku without an adequate replacement and expected Martial to play 60 games a season. That isn't very sound transfer strategy.
We sold Lukaku without an adequate replacement and expected Martial to play 60 games a season. That isn't very sound transfer strategy.
You guys need to look back at the threads when Martial was injured and Rashford was playing CF
We sold Lukaku without an adequate replacement and expected Martial to play 60 games a season. That isn't very sound transfer strategy.
We took a risk and recouped money for a wantaway player who had zero desire to play for United and had been openly flirting with Inter and Conte while under contract for the club.
Our mistake wasn't in not replacing him, but in not getting Bruno in the summer. At least we rectified our mistake, and got a solid deal on Bruno. We would never have got the fee we got for Lukaku if we had passed on it in that moment, and he'd have been a total, unprofessional deadweight who nobody in the squad even got along with anymore if he had stayed.
In the meanwhile, while we certainly had to endure some true levels of shit when we were dealing with injuries to our frontline, the fruit we're bearing now for our troubles is more than worth it. Sometimes you need to endure some short-term pain for some long-term gain. Thank goodness we had a manager willing to put the club's long-term future above his own short-term interests.
I was a good decision. Woodward gets some credit as well.
I think Ole wanted to replace him with Haaland, but had to wait to January. Unfortunately he chose Dortmund over us. I think Ole's philosophy is we either get a player we truly want or we don't at all. We were unlucky in the sense that martial got injured early on. In that sense while we suffered in the short run, at lay We don't get an unwanted player that don't fit in on our books
Yeah, definitely agree with all of that.
Ole seems willing to take the right risks that might cost him in the short-term, because he's focused on building a winner with the right characteristics in the long-term. If we had appointed him after SAF, even if he's not the most tactically astute -- an assertion I don't really understand given his "big match" record at United -- he'd 100% have built a better squad than the orgy of transfer horror that was Moyes, LvG, and Mourinho.
I don't know if Ole is going to be THE guy to take us back to the top, but I have been and am now even more convinced he's at least the guy BEFORE the guy.
Lukaku was never the right fit for Ole in so many ways. He just doesn't suit the fluent style of play, for all the flicks and close control Rashford, Martial and Greenwood can do, Lukaku would have lost the ball in those tight spaces.
His build up play was never his strong point, it would have frustrated Ole and his team mates with miss controlled balls or miss passes.
It is clear that Ole wants to play a passing game, building from the back, passing out from the keeper and hold possession of the ball until there's a clear chance or opportunity to shoot or cross, rather than blindly crossing against a full back. And having an interchanging front 3 allows him to play that system, if Martial receives the ball outside of the ball, Rashford or Greenwood would go into the box and vice versa. But Lukaku being very one dimensional, he just didn't fit.
But the most important reason was his attitude, once being dropped he just dropped his head and threw his toys out the pram, and wanted out. Ole understands the United cultural and demands the same mentality from his players. Just look at Matic, everyone thought he was on his way out of United last season but he kept going quietly about business and eventually made his way back into the side and has been amazing since. We never saw the same from Lakaku, from all the talk of himself being a winner and has a strong mentality, it was just never the case. I'm glad he's gone.
His build up play was never his strong point, it would have frustrated Ole and his team mates with miss controlled balls or miss passes.
It is clear that Ole wants to play a passing game, building from the back, passing out from the keeper and hold possession of the ball until there's a clear chance or opportunity to shoot or cross, rather than blindly crossing against a full back. And having an interchanging front 3 allows him to play that system, if Martial receives the ball outside of the ball, Rashford or Greenwood would go into the box and vice versa. But Lukaku being very one dimensional, he just didn't fit.
But the most important reason was his attitude, once being dropped he just dropped his head and threw his toys out the pram, and wanted out. Ole understands the United cultural and demands the same mentality from his players. Just look at Matic, everyone thought he was on his way out of United last season but he kept going quietly about business and eventually made his way back into the side and has been amazing since. We never saw the same from Lakaku, from all the talk of himself being a winner and has a strong mentality, it was just never the case. I'm glad he's gone.
Yes, selling Lukaku was fine, backing the younger players as well, but my point is that praising the club for this is a bit of a stretch. Everyone and their dog knew Lukaku was going to leave and we still chose to go in to the season without adequate replacements. We were in full panic mode in Jan and I wonder what would've happened to our season if Bruno and Ighalo didn't work as well as they have.
I don't know how he is scoring in Italy...joke on their defense. I am glad he is no longer with us. There were good moments but overall he was a shitty striker who can't hold the ball, can't control the ball in the air, bad first touch, bad attitude..
Ighalo is 100 times better than lukaku.
Ighalo is 100 times better than lukaku.
RAWK level delusion
Selling bad apples to Inter should've been a meme in caf by now,
Lindelof played bad today, off to Inter.
De Gea is shit today, off to Inter.
Lingard is the MVP, off to Inter.
Lindelof played bad today, off to Inter.
De Gea is shit today, off to Inter.
Lingard is the MVP, off to Inter.
To be fair, he said with us. Ole only needs to win one to fulfill the prophecy. I would say it is more likely that they will all end with the same number though.RAWK level delusion
Quite happy we sold him on. Feck, he was never a United-type player. Somebody mention 'bully-poacher'. Couldn't be a better label. Feck off, Rom!
Many said when we had Lukaku that football is a team game. Yes he scores goals but his link up play was awful and he couldn’t hold up a ball to save his life. Never won headers from long balls either.
I was a bit surprised when he let Lukaku leave last season and I was actually quite concerned when we didn’t replace him.But Oles faith in his forwards,and in particular Mason has payed off quite spectacularl.Its certainly a huge feather in Oles cap and this will earn him a lot of goodwill from the supporters...
Keep seeing this opinion shared by British pundits. There are many types of strikers.
One of the many good decisions Ole has made since he's come in. Lukaku could never play the way our forwards need to play in this system. He'd be breaking up attacks with his poor touches.
serious.
he played a total of 23 games in 2 years against the top 6 (inc cup games) and stored one goal and that was against Chelsea. I’ve not left games out. No idea on assists or lack of.
You guys need to look back at the threads when Martial was injured and Rashford was playing CF
We sold Lukaku without an adequate replacement and expected Martial to play 60 games a season. That isn't very sound transfer strategy.
We could have purchased Bruno the same summer and actually improved the midfield and attack. I suppose Ole saw a chance to get good money for a player he didn't want and there wasn't time to buy a replacement, so had to take a chance until the next window.
That's just insane. I remember when he was here, reading all kinds of stats about how he's the fastest player to reach X number of goals and etc. So glad we sold this guy!
I just watched a compilation of Lukaku's poor first touches to remind myself of that feeling of despair I had watching us try to play intricate football through him.
Sure, we could have maybe used the money in the summer to bring in a replacement, but selling him was strengthening the team. He didn't really suit the style of football Ole wanted to play so he was going to be used sparingly. He knew this and wanted out. Keeping hold of an unwanted, unmotivated player - on big wages - just in case there's an injury crisis is pointless. Also, if such an injury crisis was to happen, having that player in the team would be detrimental to the tactical style you were trying to implement. You'd be stupid to keep hold of him if a club was offering a fair price (and I think Inter's deal was more than fair).
That it left a void in the squad that we've used to accelerate Greenwood's development is a massive bonus. I'm completely okay with us selling experienced but limited squad players and promoting youth if we can't find the right replacement in the transfer market. On that note, I'm also comfortable with us biding our time in the transfer market and bringing in the right players for the right price, rather than acting too quickly and just buying players for the sake of having numbers (although clearly, Fernandes would have been the right player at the right price and should have been picked up in the summer)
Sure, we could have maybe used the money in the summer to bring in a replacement, but selling him was strengthening the team. He didn't really suit the style of football Ole wanted to play so he was going to be used sparingly. He knew this and wanted out. Keeping hold of an unwanted, unmotivated player - on big wages - just in case there's an injury crisis is pointless. Also, if such an injury crisis was to happen, having that player in the team would be detrimental to the tactical style you were trying to implement. You'd be stupid to keep hold of him if a club was offering a fair price (and I think Inter's deal was more than fair).
That it left a void in the squad that we've used to accelerate Greenwood's development is a massive bonus. I'm completely okay with us selling experienced but limited squad players and promoting youth if we can't find the right replacement in the transfer market. On that note, I'm also comfortable with us biding our time in the transfer market and bringing in the right players for the right price, rather than acting too quickly and just buying players for the sake of having numbers (although clearly, Fernandes would have been the right player at the right price and should have been picked up in the summer)
100% agree with this. Selling Lukaku was the right decision, but we should have signed someone to replace him (I'm referring to a backup)
Pretty much agree with all that, except the part on him succeeding SAF. I think people are willing to be a bit more patient with him now after seeing how big names failed here. He would not be afforded the same patience is free took over immediately.
Selling him was good... Not replacing his space in the squad until the end Jan was bad.
I dont support Pep or Klopp but I like their style of management. Just like you dont need to support Barca for Messi to be your favourite player.