Can we keep £90m Lukaku on the bench?

He was a bad fit for us from the start. We were left with a choice that summer of Morata or Lukaku. We ended up with the best one but both have been awful transfers for their retrospective clubs.

Hopefully we can offload for £50m plus. Someone will take him, not one of the elite clubs but I’m sure the likes of Everton would have him back. He’s still young and has a years left in his contract.

Every time he comes on he looks clumsy and lost. I know he never had great ball control but it doesn’t even exist anymore.
 
He’s not a starter on current form. I think we have to accept that we’re stuck with him for a while as no team will match his wages or pay anywhere near his transfer fee for him.
 
He’s worth more than £50m. Calum Wilson is being touted as a £50m+ striker ffs.

People keep talking about just replacing him with a proper world class striker.

Erm. Like who? The reason we signed Lukaku in the first place was because him and Morata were the only two realistic strikers available. Not much has changed. There aren’t many world class strikers out there. Much less ones that are actually available.

Rashford has had a few decent games since Ole has arrived but that’s no guarantee he’s finally turned the corner and is ready to be our automatic starter. Too early to be considering getting rid of Lukaku.
 
Andy_Cole said:
Not saying we should start him. Don’t think he’s the type of player for our current tactics.

I actually think he’s very useful from the bench. A bit of an Eden Dzecko maybe scoring important goals for us off the bench.

Can we do that though, considering how much we bought him for? Or if he can’t start do we need to cash in on him?

I suppose if we look at Arnautovic he’d be £35m, which is a lot cheaper option off the bench. Liverpool managed to get in Shakiri for peanuts. Or start promoting youth.
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Absolutely.We can even keep Pogba on the bench if he doesn’t perform....Sanchez is the highest earner at the club and he’s been warming the bench for the last few weeks.Price Tag should go out of the window,players should only be selected on their current form...
 
Chelsea are moving on Morata despite taking a huge hit on fees (initially loan deal as being reported)


United should be at least looking to do the same with Lukaku. He's not good enough of leading the line every match at a club of United's stature.
 
Its not acceptable is it.
£75m should make you an undoubted starting 11 player, the fact Rom is struggling to break back into the team is starting to look more and more like we need to get rid. We could bring in some £15-20m wild card striker to play his current role.
 
I don't think we can play the football we want to with him up top. He will score loads of goals wherever he ends up, with good service.

But we should move towards more progressive football where all the top 3 see good chances and constantly interchange. His lack of movement is so annoying to watch, even when he comes on as a sub.

Highly doubt he'd be happy as a bench option. Sell him in the next summer and buy a world class right winger.
 
In some matches, Lukaku is a better player to start than Rashford and the other way around, in some matches we might use both - we need both...plain and simple. In a match like today - it's probably not stupid to have Lukaku as we will probably have the ball a lot, but will find little space behind their defenders unless we get an early goal.
 
TheRedHearted said:
Sanchez has not shown that he's more effective than Lukaku. I want him to come good but it's been night and day between the two. Martial is our starting LW, so moving him into the middle isn't really a solution if we want to keep our shape at all.
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Noone showed anything under Mourinho, and Sanchez has been injured since Ole took over. He's also had a bit bad luck with Lingard, Martial and Rashford performing well together, and making the front 3 positions their own.
He was rated as one of the best players in the league before we signed him, he turned shit under Mourinho, but i still think he's a top player, and a more suiting 9 for Ole's style than Lukaku is. With some more play time, he could become as good as he was at Arsenal.

cyril C said:
Just for argument Ole has demonstrated 2 separate version of 433, 1 against minor clubs, 1 against big boys. Against small clubs, why can't Lukaku plays in centre with Rash/Ling on the right? This is assuming Rashford has a dip in form or need to rest? Against big boys, why can't Lukaku plays on the right replacing Rashford? Again, assuming Rashford dip in form or resting. Lukaku would probably be less effective than Rashford as a RHS striker but he should be able to do a similar job. As a central striker Lukaku should be better for his hold up play. Once again I can't see the logic of exclusive-or, that we must get rid of Lukaku. Just because Martial's form is better than Sanchez and Rashford better than Lukaku, do not mean we must sell the other 2, although the age of Sanchez does mean we can't afford to wait and see too long.
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Lukaku can play as 9 with those on the wings, no problem. I replied to someone who said we didn't have any alternatives up front if we sold Lukaku.
If we can keep both, and can afford it, it's great for the club, they are alright players, the question is if the players accept being rotation players instead of starting 11.
 
Josep Dowling said:
He was a bad fit for us from the start. We were left with a choice that summer of Morata or Lukaku. We ended up with the best one but both have been awful transfers for their retrospective clubs.

Hopefully we can offload for £50m plus. Someone will take him, not one of the elite clubs but I’m sure the likes of Everton would have him back. He’s still young and has a years left in his contract.

Every time he comes on he looks clumsy and lost. I know he never had great ball control but it doesn’t even exist anymore.
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Way too harsh on Lukaku....the lad is the 5th youngest player to reach 100 PL goals and is a regular (and key component of) one of the best international sides in the world. If players like Richarlison and Sigurddson are going for £50m+ I would expect Lukaku must be worth at least what we paid for him

How come the likes of Rashford, Pogba and Martial get a pass for their time under Jose but Lukaku doesn't?
 
I honestly think we should sell him. I just dont think he's good enough for Manchester United. His first touch is so bad. I think we need to start being strict and ruthless of who comes in and goes out if we are seriously going to start competing with City and Liverpool for titles. Morata hasn't worked out for Chelsea and he's off, I know Lukaku has been better than Morata but still. Not good enough, sell him.
 
Lentwood said:
Way too harsh on Lukaku....the lad is the 5th youngest player to reach 100 PL goals and is a regular (and key component of) one of the best international sides in the world. If players like Richarlison and Sigurddson are going for £50m+ I would expect Lukaku must be worth at least what we paid for him

How come the likes of Rashford, Pogba and Martial get a pass for their time under Jose but Lukaku doesn't?
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It’s not a case of that, I don’t think he’s a good fit for the way we want to play. He is a target man that can neither hold the ball up or has a first touch. His records against the top 6 is awful, he’s missed so many one on ones this season. A good player that doesn’t suit this club.
 
I would be willing to give him a chance. I was very excited when we bought him, but obviously he had been very disappointing, mainly this season. But, he can still be a very good option off the bench. Buying proven scorers, is probably the most difficult player to buy. Id want to give him a chance first, before we discarded him so easily. But he would want to have to stay knowing hes back up for Rashford as we speak. There is a good player in him, and if he can get back too that he'd be a quality option for us.
 
Jesus. Did we really spend 90m on an above average Premier League striker?

What does a true world class striker cost these days?
 
Lukaku is on high wages but not that high that we need to get rid of him just because of that. He also offers a different alternative to Martial and Rashford.
The biggest issue I think if he will accept if not a back-up role, to at least fight for his place.
He left Chelsea once upon a time because he wanted to play and be the main man and he does not seem to have let that attitude go. Which can be a positive thing as long as he uses it as individual motivation and does not sulk because of it.
If he cant accept that; he needs to be let go immediately.
He should be given time like every other player (this season and the next to begin with IMO). Add to this that this coming summer we have more pressing issues than replacing players in what is already a pretty convincing offensive line-up.
 
JB08 said:
:lol:

I know he’s hardly flavour of the month right now, but come on, as if Lukaku would sign for West Ham.
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Why not. I really can’t see a top side buying him. Everton are probably the ‘biggest’ team who would. If you look at the PL, clearly he’s not going to City, Pool, spurs, Arsenal or Chelsea.

A mid table PL team is more likely to be able to spend £50m on him than most clubs in Europe aside from the top teams, for whom he’s not good enough. He’s not going to the big 3 in Spain, he’s not going to Bayern or Dortmund. So that rules out Spain and Germany as no other team has the money.

He’s not going to Juventus obviously, and they are the only team in Italy who have spent more than £40m on a player in 15+ years.

He’s not going to PSG, and assuming Monaco are no longer splashing the cash (haven’t since James and Falcao), that rules out France.

Honestly, where else is there for him to go?
 
Lentwood said:
Way too harsh on Lukaku....the lad is the 5th youngest player to reach 100 PL goals and is a regular (and key component of) one of the best international sides in the world. If players like Richarlison and Sigurddson are going for £50m+ I would expect Lukaku must be worth at least what we paid for him

How come the likes of Rashford, Pogba and Martial get a pass for their time under Jose but Lukaku doesn't?
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Transfermarkt has Lukaku valued at 85m EURO (after a sudden drop from over 100m after Mourinho left) and CIES has him at 160m EURO. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween. This about us being lucky to get "rid" of him for around 50m is typical for the Caf undervaluing our own and for the moment most disliked players.
 
Johan07 said:
Transfermarkt has Lukaku valued at 85m EURO (after a sudden drop from over 100m after Mourinho left) and CIES has him at 160m EURO. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween. This about us being lucky to get "rid" of him for around 50m is typical for the Caf undervaluing our own and for the moment most disliked players.
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For people who are too keen to get rid of Lukaku, then what? So we will buy another 150m to sit on the bench? If Lukaku can be fit into the new system what is wrong to keep him? Only Darmian and Rojo are surplus as they are never suitable to us, plus Fellaini who doesn't fit into the new system. The rest can stay and fight for their place.
 
DBT85 said:
As I've said in his performance thread, in his 5 or 6 years as a starter in the PL we gave him less shots at goal last year than at any other time in his career. Naturally he scored less goals as a result. His goals to shots is about the same as its always been.

He undoubtedly has issues with the new play style and his fitness, but if he gets given the chances he'll bag plenty of goals. It's just that right now he needs to offer more than that. Looking shagged out after 5 minutes against Spurs wasn't a great advert.

When Cole signed for United he was at training one day when one of the coaches apparently said to him, "if you think banging 41 goals is enough at United you're dead wrong". Cole had to adapt his game to be more than just goal scorer. Lukaku needs to adapt his game.

The man wants to win and had great determination so I'm sure he'll at least try.
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I was completely unaware that we created less shots for him, thanks for informing me. So on that basis I would expect any strikers to score less.

There are some points which I think are interesting in this article, which says about how Lukaku can regain form https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/man-utd-romelu-lukaku-form-15685233.

Never heard that quote about Cole which is interesting and I think that must have been a wake up call after the season scoring wise he had before he signed for us. From that article above Cole seems to believe that a lot to do with Lukaku's form is confidence when he said "I watched him this season under Jose and I could tell, as a former centre-forward myself, that he was low on confidence" and "It's all about confidence and when his returns he'll start scoring."

There are some points which I think are valid in this article where Lukaku talks about some of the things Solskjaer has been helping him work on in the bottom part of this article and he seems to have a decent attitutude in wanting to improve: https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...otball-news/man-utd-news-cies-lukaku-15641351

Lukaku stated about Ole ”He’s taught me a lot. Movement-wise, and stuff like that, but obviously he knows the type of striker that I am" and “The work that we have been doing over the last couple of weeks is good, and I just take it every day at a time and I want to improve my game".

I like his attitude when he says he wants to get past Thierry Henry's goal record after surpassing Didier Drogba, which seems to suggest he is is hungry and determined. "Now I’m talking to Thierry Henry saying ‘I’m coming for you’ on 175! I’m laughing saying it to him but, deep down, inside he knows I’m dead serious!" to me this suggests he wants to stay in the Premiership for a while. Taken from https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/romelu-lukaku-out-to-hunt-down-thierry-henry.

I hope he does well as I do any Manchester United player and hope he scores many goals here for years to come.:devil:
 
Didn't even get past the first page.

Some of you are such snakes, doesn't take much at all for you to turn 180 on your own players.
 
cyril C said:
For people who are too keen to get rid of Lukaku, then what? So we will buy another 150m to sit on the bench? If Lukaku can be fit into the new system what is wrong to keep him? Only Darmian and Rojo are surplus as they are never suitable to us, plus Fellaini who doesn't fit into the new system. The rest can stay and fight for their place.
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I agree. As long as Lukaku is OK with doing just that.
cyril C said:
For people who are too keen to get rid of Lukaku, then what? So we will buy another 150m to sit on the bench? If Lukaku can be fit into the new system what is wrong to keep him? Only Darmian and Rojo are surplus as they are never suitable to us, plus Fellaini who doesn't fit into the new system. The rest can stay and fight for their place.
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I completely agree. As long as Lukaku is OK with doing just that himself.
If he goes we would IMO need a similar "powerforward" to replace him in the squad and as you say that would be expensive and there is not many alternatives like that on the market.
 
lysglimt said:
In some matches, Lukaku is a better player to start than Rashford and the other way around, in some matches we might use both - we need both...plain and simple. In a match like today - it's probably not stupid to have Lukaku as we will probably have the ball a lot, but will find little space behind their defenders unless we get an early goal.
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Isn’t that the worst type of game for a player like Lukaku? Not much time and space on the ball... he has a bad first touch, bad control, and he just doesn’t seem fluid enough to play in a game where he will literally not have much time on the ball playing striker position


I think he would do much better in an open attacking game instead of against a team parking the bus and pressuring us but only in their half/third of the field
 
Andy_Cole said:
Not saying we should start him. Don’t think he’s the type of player for our current tactics.

I actually think he’s very useful from the bench. A bit of an Eden Dzecko maybe scoring important goals for us off the bench.

Can we do that though, considering how much we bought him for? Or if he can’t start do we need to cash in on him?

I suppose if we look at Arnautovic he’d be £35m, which is a lot cheaper option off the bench. Liverpool managed to get in Shakiri for peanuts. Or start promoting youth.
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The fact Liverpool got Shaqiri for that cheap annoyed me. He was a good buy.

But no, there are other strikers who can do just as good if not better from the bench. Didn't we bring Lukaku on against Tottenham for some energy as they began to stretch the game? Didn't we bring him on to hold up the ball...to chase down stray passes, second balls. He couldn't do any of it. His technique is devastatingly poor, a chasm short of United quality and he has to go.

40m + goals bonus payments, unless China are interested.

Whilst we're at it Sanchez can go as well. His wages were always ridiculous, but in exchange for top notch performances we don't mind. His best days are behind him and he's another candidate for China/USA. I'm not saying he won't reproduce any quality football and I for one would give him chances. But his wages are probably a major wedge in negotiating other player contracts.

Simply put, it's time to start being sensible, with a defined direction in our transfer dealings.
 
No highly rated player will be allowed to leave and that includes the big transfer players.

Who knows what the next manager will want?

OGS has had a good start to life as manager but lets be honest, any change of manager would of got a response. They wanted anyone but jose.

Lets see whats happens between now and the seasons end.

As for Lukaku, he is simply not the right fit for utd. His touch is bad, his football brain is poor. His movement and workrate are simply not good enough.
 
Schmeichel=God said:
The fact Liverpool got Shaqiri for that cheap annoyed me. He was a good buy.

But no, there are other strikers who can do just as good if not better from the bench. Didn't we bring Lukaku on against Tottenham for some energy as they began to stretch the game? Didn't we bring him on to hold up the ball...to chase down stray passes, second balls. He couldn't do any of it. His technique is devastatingly poor, a chasm short of United quality and he has to go.

40m + goals bonus payments, unless China are interested.

Whilst we're at it Sanchez can go as well. His wages were always ridiculous, but in exchange for top notch performances we don't mind. His best days are behind him and he's another candidate for China/USA. I'm not saying he won't reproduce any quality football and I for one would give him chances. But his wages are probably a major wedge in negotiating other player contracts.

Simply put, it's time to start being sensible, with a defined direction in our transfer dealings.
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I've noticed how our style of play changes when he comes on, we start going more for the hoofball and long passes.
 
I would prefer to see someone who has the pace and dynamism of Rashford on the bench. Someone who could come on whether we're winning or losing and provide a much needed energy to the game.

Due to Lukaku's shape, it'll take him and a while to get up to speed with the game, and lets be honest, he's nowhere as near dynamic as the likes of Rashford. We saw it the other day against Spurs. Granted it was a tough game to come in to and make a difference, I just feel bringing on a dynamic player would be able to turn the oppositions back four and cause more trouble to teams.

Lukaku, whilst he has his uses, will never do that for us. Well, not relentlessly like Rashford does anyway.

Having seen the difference a player like Rashford makes, I would probably offload Lukaku and have Sanchez rotating in the striker position, giving us the options of:

Rashford
Martial
New Winger
Sanchez
Lingard




5 players for 3 positions, with Chong, Gomes and Greenwood as back up is more than enough. Not only in terms of numbers but quality too, in my opinion.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
What if we already paid the bonus?
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It will be based on things like finishing in the CL places in the league, winning the European Cup - basically the success of the team, and probably based over a 3-4 year period.

I do seem to remember that it was said that the additional clauses weee pretty easy to achieve, so would most likely to be paid. So obviously, nothing like winning the Balon d’or is in there.
 
Schmeichel=God said:
But his wages are probably a major wedge in negotiating other player contracts.
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Totally agree with this and have been saying it for a while that I think by paying Sanchez so much we were going to feck ourselves over in contract negotiations in the future.
Whichever signing we make who thinks they are of the same level are going to want similar wages. If a player is here for a while and proves that they have earned a mega money contract eg De Gea, I would be happy giving them a mega contract.
 
If he is content to be a sub then fine. If he wants to feck off elsewhere then I am fine too. He can take Sanchez with him as well.
 
Unless he adopts his game to become more Van Nistelrooy than Heskey then yes, on the bench he sits.
 
Feck off Lukaku.

Could never score the goal Rashford scored. In fact, only a few limited preset types of goals he can score at all, as he has no flair.
 
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