Romelu Lukaku

• 1. Introduction

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  Romelu Lukaku was a schoolboy in 2009 when television cameras followed his class from Brussels to London. Standing inside Stamford Bridge, the teenager looked around and said, "What a stadium. If one day in my life I will cry, it will be the day I play here. I love Chelsea." The cameras belonged to De School Van Lukaku, a reality series on the Dutch-language network Eén. It tracked him and his classmates at the Saint-Guidon Institute for a full year. Lukaku was born in Antwerp on the 13th of May 1993, to Congolese parents. He grew into a Belgian striker whose international goal total of 89 ranks second among European men. So what happened when that wish came true? What did record fees, public feuds and a few missed chances do to the boy who made it? And how does one forward end up wearing the shirts of so many clubs across England and Italy?

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• 2. Boom to Brussels

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  Rupel Boom, his local team, was where Lukaku first pulled on a club shirt, at the age of five. After four seasons there, scouts from Lierse noticed him. Lierse was a Belgian Pro League club with an established youth academy. He played for them from 2004 until 2006 and scored 121 goals in 68 matches. When Lierse were relegated, Anderlecht bought 13 of its youth players in the 2006 mid-season, and Lukaku was among them. Three more years in Anderlecht's youth system followed, and he scored 131 goals in 93 matches.

  On the 13th of May 2009 he turned 16 and signed a professional contract running until 2012. Eleven days later, on the 24th of May, he made his first-division debut in a play-off match against Standard Liège. He came on in the 69th minute for the defender Víctor Bernárdez, and Anderlecht lost 1-0. His first senior goal arrived on the 28th of August 2009. He came off the bench for Kanu and scored in the 89th minute against Zulte Waregem. He later told Berend Scholten of UEFA.com, "After scoring I dived into a sea of happiness. You think you are flying and can take on the whole world."

  The 2009-10 season ended with 15 goals, the top scorer's place in the league, and Anderlecht's 30th Belgian title. He also added four goals on the club's run to the last 16 of the Europa League. A year later he scored 20 goals in all competitions, yet Anderlecht failed to keep the title even after topping the regular-season table. The honours kept coming regardless. He won the Belgian Bronze Shoe in 2009, the Silver Shoe in 2010 and the Ebony Shoe in 2011, the year a Premier League club came calling.

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• 3. Borrowed Seasons

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  In August 2011 Lukaku joined Chelsea on a five-year contract. The fee was reported at around €12 million, or £10 million, and it could rise to €20 million with add-ons. His debut came at Stamford Bridge in the 83rd minute of a 3-1 win over Norwich City, replacing Fernando Torres. He started a League Cup tie against Fulham, which Chelsea won on penalties. Most of the season, though, he spent with the reserves. His first Premier League start came on the 13th of May 2012 against Blackburn Rovers. He was man of the match and set up the opening goal for John Terry. Six days later Chelsea won the Champions League final. Lukaku declined to hold the trophy and explained, "it wasn't me, but my team that won".

  A season-long loan to West Bromwich Albion began on the 10th of August 2012. Eight days later he scored his first league goal, coming on in the 77th minute of a 3-0 win over Liverpool. On the 24th of November he scored a penalty and set up Marc-Antoine Fortuné in a 4-2 win at Sunderland. It was West Brom's fourth straight top-flight win, a run last matched in 1980. Even so, he told the press he still wished to become a legend at Stamford Bridge.

  The last home game of that season was against Manchester United on the 19th of May 2013. It was Alex Ferguson's 1,500th and final match in charge. West Brom trailed by three goals, and Lukaku came on at half-time to score a second-half perfect hat-trick. The game ended 5-5, the highest-scoring draw in Premier League history. He finished with 17 league goals, sixth in the division, and outscored every Chelsea player despite being on loan. In the 2013 UEFA Super Cup against Bayern Munich, he missed the decisive penalty when Manuel Neuer saved it.

  On the final day of the summer 2013 transfer window he moved to Everton, again on loan. At West Ham on the 21st of September he collided with a defender while heading in the winner of a 3-2 victory. The physio had to tell him he had scored. He then scored twice on his home debut against Newcastle United. In the first Merseyside derby of the season, he scored twice again in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool and called it the best experience of his short career. In January 2014 The Guardian named him among the ten most promising young players in Europe. Days later a derby against Liverpool ended with him leaving on a stretcher, an ankle ligament injury suffered when Gareth Barry slid into him. He came back in March, and finished with 15 goals in 31 league matches. Everton took fifth place with a club-record 72 points.

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• 4. Goodison Records

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  A five-year contract with Everton in July 2014 carried a then club-record fee of £28 million. His first goal as a permanent player, on the 13th of September, came against his old loan club West Brom. He did not celebrate, and the visiting fans applauded him for it. On the 19th of February 2015 he scored his first hat-trick, in a 4-1 Europa League win over Young Boys. One goal was a header, one a right-footed shot and one a left-footed shot. Two more followed in the return leg. His eight goals made him joint top scorer of that competition's season, level with Alan of Red Bull Salzburg.

  Southampton, on the 15th of August 2015, saw him score twice with his first two shots on target. Before kick-off he had handed a t-shirt to a home supporter he had accidentally hit with a ball in shooting practice. On the 21st of November he became the fifth player under 23 to reach 50 Premier League goals, after Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. In December he scored in six straight league games, then eight in a row in all competitions, a feat last managed by Dave Hickson in 1954. His 17th league goal of 2015-16, scored at Villa Park on the 1st of March, was a Premier League-era record for Everton.

  On the 12th of September 2016 he scored all three goals of a 3-0 win at Sunderland in 11 minutes and 37 seconds. The 4th of February 2017 brought four goals in a 6-3 win over Bournemouth. The first was Everton's fastest ever in the Premier League and the 300th hat-trick in the competition's history. He scored his 60th league goal for Everton on the 25th of February, equalling Duncan Ferguson's club record, and passed it on the 5th of March. Reaching 21 league goals made him the first Everton player to pass 20 since Gary Lineker, 31 years earlier.

  That same March he rejected a new five-year contract worth a reported £140,000 a week. In an interview he questioned the club's ambition to sign big names and chase Champions League football. His manager Ronald Koeman took offence. On the 20th of April 2017 he was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the first time.

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• 5. When Relations Broke

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  Manchester United signed Lukaku on the 10th of July 2017 for an initial £75 million, plus £15 million in add-ons. The deal reunited him with his close friend Paul Pogba. It came a day after Wayne Rooney left United to return to Everton. Lukaku scored on his debut in the 2017 Super Cup against Real Madrid, in a 2-1 defeat. Five days later he scored twice against West Ham on his league debut. On the 17th of September he scored against Everton in a 4-0 win and cupped his ears towards fans who had booed him all game. On the 27th of September two goals against CSKA Moscow took him to ten in nine appearances, topping Bobby Charlton's nine. By the 31st of March 2018 he had reached 100 Premier League goals in his 216th game.

  The 2018-19 season unravelled. After four goals in five games, he went 12 matches without scoring, from the 19th of September to the 27th of November 2018. José Mourinho was sacked, and his replacement Ole Gunnar Solskjær left Lukaku out of the squad entirely for the first two matches. Marcus Rashford was usually preferred up front. Still, Lukaku scored twice against Paris Saint-Germain in a 3-1 win. United advanced on away goals, the first time any team had gone through after losing a home first leg by two or more goals. Barcelona then beat them 4-0 on aggregate. Lukaku later said he had been made a scapegoat along with Pogba and Alexis Sánchez. He also said the club had failed to protect him from rumours about his future.

  On the 12th of August 2021 he returned to Chelsea for a reported £97.5 million. That made him the most expensive player of all time in cumulative transfer fees, at almost £285 million, ahead of Neymar. He later admitted asking Inter to agree a deal. "They got me out of the shit," he said, recalling how he felt "in a deep hole at Manchester United". Goals came against Arsenal on the 22nd of August and Aston Villa on the 12th of September. He finished twelfth in the 2021 Ballon d'Or voting. Then, in late December, he told Sky Italia he was "not happy" and wanted to go back to Inter. Head coach Thomas Tuchel dropped him for the Liverpool match, a 2-2 draw. Lukaku apologised, saying "I'm sorry for the upset I have caused", and he was fined. The season ended with eight goals in 26 league games, and ESPN judged him the worst signing of the Premier League season.

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• 6. Italian Chapters

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  Inter Milan signed him on the 8th of August 2019 for a club-record €80 million. His debut came on the 26th of August against Lecce, and he scored with his first shot in a 4-0 win. It meant he had scored in his first league game for five of the six clubs he had represented. A week later, a penalty at Cagliari won Inter a 2-1 victory. He was racially abused by some of the home fans that day. Italian media soon nicknamed his partnership with the Argentine Lautaro Martínez "Lu-La". In his first Serie A season he scored 23 goals and Inter finished one point behind Juventus.

  The Europa League brought a run no one had managed before. Lukaku scored in ten consecutive matches in the competition, passing the nine-match mark that Alan Shearer had set in 2004-05. He scored a fifth-minute penalty in the final against Sevilla, but his own goal in the 74th minute decided the 3-2 defeat. His season total reached 34 goals in all competitions. A year later, on the 3rd of January 2021, a goal against Crotone brought his 50th for the club in only 70 matches. That beat Ronaldo's 77. On the 26th of January he clashed heads and traded insults with his former United teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović in a Coppa Italia quarter-final. Both were booked, and Ibrahimović was sent off later. Inter won the 2020-21 Serie A for the first time since 2009-10, with 24 league goals and eleven assists. He won the Serie A Most Valuable Player award.

  The years after were less smooth. Inter took him back on loan in June 2022, at a pay cut, and he chose the number 90 shirt because Edin Džeko had number 9. He won the Supercoppa Italiana and the Coppa Italia. After he was racially abused during a cup draw at Juventus on the 5th of April 2023, he urged Serie A to act. The 2023 Champions League final against Manchester City ended in a 1-0 defeat, and he was criticised for chances missed off the bench. In the summer, talks with Juventus reportedly angered both sets of fans. On the 31st of August 2023 he joined Roma on loan instead. Napoli then signed him permanently on the 29th of August 2024 for a reported €30 million. He scored a stoppage-time equaliser on debut against Parma. On the 23rd of May 2025 he scored in a 2-0 win over Cagliari that gave Napoli its fourth Serie A title and his second. A thigh injury in the 2025-26 pre-season then sidelined him for several months.

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• 7. Belgium's Record Man

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  On the 24th of February 2010, Lukaku was named in the Belgium senior squad for a friendly against Croatia. He had already scored on his debut for the under-21s against Slovenia. On the 17th of November 2010 he scored his first two international goals, against Russia in a friendly. Then came a drought of almost two years, ended by the winner in a 4-2 friendly victory over the Netherlands on the 15th of August 2012. A brace against Croatia on the 11th of October 2013 secured Belgium's place at the World Cup.

  On the 26th of May 2014 he scored a hat-trick against Luxembourg in a warm-up. Because Belgium made seven substitutions instead of the permitted six, FIFA did not count the match as official. In Belo Horizonte, he started against Algeria and played 58 minutes before Divock Origi replaced him. In the round of 16 he came on before extra time and set up Kevin De Bruyne's goal three minutes later. His own first tournament goal followed in the 105th minute, in a 2-1 win over the United States. Two years later, he headed a consolation against Portugal after a pass from his brother Jordan Lukaku. At Euro 2016 he scored twice against the Republic of Ireland.

  The national record was next. On the 10th of November 2017 two goals against Mexico, in a 3-3 draw, drew him level with Bernard Voorhoof and Paul Van Himst. Four days later he scored the only goal against Japan. He was 24 and had 31 goals by the Belgian association's count. FIFA at first recognised only 28, because the Luxembourg match had been nullified. In 2023 FIFA recognised the three matches from 2012-2014 and 2017 in its Century Club. He was officially Belgium's leading scorer after a goal against Egypt on the 6th of June 2018.

  The 2018 World Cup was his peak. He scored twice against Panama on the 18th of June, and twice against Tunisia on the 23rd. No player had scored two or more in consecutive World Cup matches since Diego Maradona in 1986. Four goals and one assist won him the Bronze Boot, and Belgium finished third. In October 2019 he scored his 50th and 51st goals for his country in a 9-0 win over San Marino. At Euro 2020 he scored twice against Russia, once against Finland and a penalty in the 2-1 quarter-final loss to Italy. He was the only Belgian in the Team of the Tournament. His 100th cap came on the 5th of September 2021 against the Czech Republic, with his 67th goal.

  Qatar 2022 turned sour. Needing a win against Croatia, Belgium drew 0-0 as Lukaku missed four clear chances, and went out in third place in the group. In qualifying for Euro 2024 he scored 14 goals in eight appearances, a record for a European Championship qualifying campaign. In the tournament's opener against Slovakia, on the 17th of June, VAR denied him two goals in a 1-0 defeat. By then his career total stood at 124 appearances.

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• 8. Beyond the Goals

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  Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka were the two strikers who first made Lukaku want to play for Chelsea, he told ESPN in 2016. His true idol, he said, was Ronaldo, the former Brazilian striker. "He changed the dimension of a striker," Lukaku said, adding that Ronaldo "was as strong as an ox". Asked whether he resembled him, he replied, "There is only one Ronaldo."

  Lukaku is left-footed, large and physically powerful, and has used that strength to get around defenders. Yet he prefers to play as an out-and-out striker or poacher rather than a target man, and he can also operate on the wing. Pundits once criticised his defensive contribution, but managers later praised his work off the ball. Critics have still questioned his movement and first touch.

  His father, Roger Lukaku, was a professional footballer capped by Zaire. His younger brother Jordan came through the Anderlecht academy, and his cousin Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo plays for Standard Liège. Beyond his native French and Dutch, Lukaku speaks fluent English, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and a Congolese Swahili dialect, and he understands German. A practising Catholic, he often prays before and after matches. He made a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2014, and he does not drink alcohol.

  Off the pitch, he was the first Premier League player to join Jay-Z's agency Roc Nation Sports. In June 2018 he signed the largest endorsement deal Puma had ever made. Fans also gave him the nickname "Lakaka". It is often used sardonically, and it spread after his 2022 World Cup and 2023 Champions League final appearances.

  In 2020 he scored for Inter against Sampdoria and knelt with one fist raised in honour of George Floyd, supporting Black Lives Matter. The gesture was inspired by the American football player Colin Kaepernick, who had kneeled during the national anthem before every game in 2016 to protest police brutality towards people of colour. Since then, Lukaku and other players across Europe have taken a more active role in kneeling.

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