Pogba's Plan To Convince Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku has revealed to MUTV that Paul Pogba used to deliberately drive past Old Trafford after dinner to offer him a potential glimpse into his future.

The Frenchman's persuasive tactics clearly worked as Lukaku opted to join Jose Mourinho's side this summer after being Everton's leading goalscorer last term. The centre-forward has already made a positive impression in the red shirt and has spelled out this determination to win trophies, playing alongside his close friend Pogba and United's other stars.

"I spoke with Paul a lot, obviously," said the Belgium international. "We spent our holiday together and he said: ‘What do you want to do?’ I told him that I was thinking a lot about signing for United, something was telling me [to do it]. 

"I live near Manchester so, when I was coming to the city [centre], I would drive past Old Trafford and ask my mates what they thought. Me and Paul, we’d go to the city to have dinner and he’d drive past Old Trafford on purpose!"

Lukaku knew from day one that he had made the right decision to sign for United as he linked up again with Mourinho, his former boss at Chelsea.

"The first thing I noticed when I came to the meeting room on my first day with the team, the manager had a meeting and you just felt something special," he said. "Loads of the players were saying that this group is quite special; we’re all young, hungry players. 

"In training, everyone wants to be the best, everyone wants to win, so to be part of a team like that is great. Players like Marcus [Rashford], Jesse [Lingard], Micki [Henrikh Mkhitaryan], Juan [Mata], Ander [Herrera] – players like that are hungry to win trophies and it’s time for us. We need to work hard; the manager has a masterplan and we are here to follow it. Hopefully it’s going to take us to the top.

"That’s what I came here for [trophies]. Manchester United, for me, equals trophies. The biggest club in the world equals trophies. Growing up, I’ve seen United win the league every year, almost! You want to be a part of that history; it’s drilled into your head when you do training sessions with the players, you don’t want to be on the losing side. 

"You don’t want to be on the losing side in the training sessions, in the friendlies or the official games, you want to win constantly and improve year after year. That is something that I wanted to feel. I wanted to feel that pressure, I wanted to feel that hunger – to be here now, I’m really grateful. I’m grateful to be part of the biggest club in the world, but there is a lot of work to be done, and I know that I need to work much harder than I have until now. 

"I want to do it because, at the end of the day, I want the club to reach bigger heights, I want the players to win a lot of trophies and I want to create history with the club. Manchester United is the biggest club in the world, so we need to work hard to make sure the club gets there.

"You always have to work hard and believe that there’s something you can improve every year. Every year, at the end of the season, I will look to all of the games that I have played and I will look to the negatives, to the positives, and take it further into the next year. 

"I think the key to me scoring more and more every year is that I work during the off-season on my negative points and it helps me a lot. I don’t think I will peak now, and also in my mind I think it’s not how you start the race but it’s how you finish. In your career, you always have obstacles, but you need to make sure you have the consistency to go with it. I’m playing for the biggest club in the world, so I need to play like one of the best players and make sure that my team-mates win."