Talking Points: Lukaku Signs For United

Romelu Lukaku completed a transfer from Everton to Manchester United on Monday and fans around the world are all talking about the Belgian. Here are five hot topics...

1: GOALS, GOALS, GOALS
The Reds scored the fewest goals of the Premier League’s top seven clubs in 2016/17, hitting the back of the net 54 times in 38 games, yet a repeat of that statistical disappointment already appears unlikely with Lukaku now part of the forward line. The striker has tallied 85 top-flight goals from his five full seasons playing with former clubs Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Everton (17 in 2012/13, 15 in 2013/14, 10 in 2014/15, 18 in 2015/16, 25 in 2016/17), while also registering 26 assists for his team-mates. He knows the division, he knows the opponents, and he knows how to score.

2: BACK WITH MOURINHO
Romelu was signed for Chelsea by Andre Villas-Boas in the summer of 2011, but briefly worked under Mourinho when Jose returned to Stamford Bridge for a second spell as manager in the summer of 2013. With experienced marksmen Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba all on the books, the 19-year-old Lukaku was sent on loan to Everton and, a year later, he joined the Toffees on a permanent basis to pursue first-team football. Mourinho has observed the player’s progress throughout the following three seasons and decisively signed him to lead United’s attack.

3: THE NUMBERS GAME
Which squad number will Lukaku wear at United? The powerful Belgian wears no.9 for Belgium and that option is available after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract was not renewed by United earlier this summer (due to the Swede’s knee injury), while the no.10 shirt – which Romelu wore for Everton – is also vacant following Wayne Rooney's departure on Sunday. The iconic no.7 jersey has also been up for grabs since Memphis left the club for Ligue 1 side Lyon in January, with no.2 and no.13 the only other numbers under 25 that are currently available for the Reds.

4: POTENTIAL US DEBUT
United arrived in the US on Sunday afternoon ahead of five stateside matches as part of Tour 2017, presented by Aon, and the first of them is against Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy on 15 July. Lukaku could make his unofficial debut versus David Beckham’s old club and the action will be shown live on MUTV. The same can be said for our upcoming games against Real Salt Lake, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid, plus the European fixtures with Valerenga and Sampdoria, so subscribers will get to watch every moment of him in action.

5: FRIENDS IN THE SQUAD
Followers of Lukaku’s social media will know that the 24-year-old has been holidaying with Paul Pogba over the last few days, regularly posting photos and video of their time together. The presence of the Frenchman will certainly help him settle him at United, but he is not the only familiar face as Marouane Fellaini is also a friend and team-mate from the Belgian national team.