Herrera: Why We Needed Lukaku

Ander Herrera believes Romelu Lukaku is just the player Manchester United needed this summer, and says his new team-mate is already having a "massive" influence on the side.

Jose Mourinho's men secured a second consecutive win on Tour 2017, presented by Aon, coming from behind at Rio Tinto Stadium with Lukaku's first-half effort proving to be the winner.

After the match, Herrera was full of praise when asked about Romelu's maiden strike, and is confident the Belgian will add much more than goals to United's game in 2017/18.

“It was a fantastic goal," the reigning Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year told MUTV. "He didn’t panic, he was very calm, so it was a fantastic goal. He’s going to score a lot of goals for us, but I also want to speak about the work he does holding the ball for the team. He’s very strong and it’s very difficult to win the ball from him, so he’s going to be very important for us.

“We have many players like Micki [Henrikh Mkhitaryan], Marcus [Rashford] and Anthony [Martial], who are very good in a one-against-one, but we need one like Romelu. He’s strong and can hold the ball for us. Sometimes, when you are defending, you can keep the ball and he can hold it for you, so the work he does for us is massive."

The Reds will now face Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona in America before continuing pre-season preparations in Europe, and Herrera admits the players already have one eye on the UEFA Super Cup clash with Real on 8 August.

“It’s always important to win but, today, it wasn’t the most important thing," he added. "We’re getting better, we’re getting minutes in our legs and that’s the most important thing.

“Always, when you play with 10 men, you have to run a little bit more! I think it was a good work-out as well, because the most important thing is to build fitness ahead of the start of the season.

“I think these games are exciting for all of us, but the result is not going to be important. The important thing is going to be 8 August – the Super Cup against Real Madrid. These are big teams but, to be honest, the most important thing is the European Super Cup. It’s already in our minds.”