Romelu Lukaku is 30 years old this year and even at his peak as a football player, he has surprised in many aspects. The Belgian player is one of the best strikers in Europe. He often scores in the box with powerful and fast one-touch shots.
Lukaku's signing of AS Roma is perhaps one of the strangest transfers involving a top European player in recent years. Roma are a great club but they are not in the Champions League. They also have little hope of winning Serie A.
Roma's main ambition is to finish in the Top 4 of Serie A to try to return to the Champions League for the first time in 5 years. If this move is not meaningful, it will be the only option for Lukaku.
Inter Milan, where Lukaku spent last season on loan from Chelsea, wanted to keep him, especially after Edin Dzeko's departure. Meanwhile, Juventus and Chelsea had brief discussions about Lukaku but could not reach an agreement.
Roc Nation, Lukaku's representative at the time, offered the Belgian to PSG. However, the Ligue 1 champions are not much interested as they have recruited Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich were also invited but gave preference to Harry Kane.
On the other hand, Sebastien ledure, Lukaku's personal lawyer, also received an offer from Saudi Arabia, which the player was not interested in.
Chelsea and Inter have never reached a full deal despite two official offers from the Serie A representative. Therefore, Roma and Mourinho have been helped a lot by the good relationship between the American owners of each club (Dan Friedkin on Roma's side and Todd Boehly on Chelsea's side).
"Mo Mourinho called Lukaku repeatedly in the final days of the transfer window. He really wants to get back to himself and Roma appreciate that," a source told ESPN. Lukaku and Mourinho have worked together at Chelsea since 2011 but things have not improved. And then, the pair reunited at Manchester United in 2017 for 18 months.
" Lukaku wants to go to a club where he will be a star, a main character. At Inter, fans once loved him but Lautaro Martinez became more popular. And many felt that Lukaku's missed shots paid the price with the Champions League final," a source told ESPN.
That could explain why Lukaku has changed clubs nine times in his career at the age of 30. At Chelsea, Tuchel never saw Lukaku as the main character but now, Mourinho does that. In the Italian capital, Lukaku is loved and revived when he scored 6 goals in 10 matches in Serie A as well as 3 goals in 4 matches in Europa League. And remember, Roma are not pursuing attacking football.
Meanwhile, Lukaku has scored 83 goals in 113 caps for Belgium and has a positive relationship with new head coach Domenico Tedesco. In his hometown, Lukaku is the "golden boy". Despite being very disappointed because they have not won any international titles, the Belgian team is always a breath of fresh air for Lukaku.
This is an important season for Lukaku. If this striker succeed in Roma and shine at EURO next summer, everything that happened before will be forgotten...
