We all know that the world of football is as mercenary than ever but the more optimistic among us still hope for some integrity from our wonderfully remunerated footballers themselves.
The latest comments from Everton hitman Romelu Lukaku will seem, to some, to be ambivalent to the point of irreverence. Asked about his future at Everton he was very coy, as Sky reports:
And Lukaku, who is currently training with his national team, has acknowledged he still has four years left on his contract but admitted he wants to play in the Champions League.
He told Sky Sports News HQ: “That’s the aim. Every player wants to play in the Champions League; every player wants to play at the highest level. You have to be ambitious in life.
And, responding to comments made by his agent earlier this year, Lukaku said:
“That’s something that he (Raiola) has the right to say and I support him in that, otherwise we wouldn’t be working together. He’s my agent for something.
Lukaku’s new agent, Mino Raiola, said, earlier this year,
“If we had met each other earlier, he wouldn’t have played for Everton,”
“Maybe somewhere else, maybe he would still be at Chelsea. I want to be clear: Romelu is a better striker than Diego Costa and could have done the same as the Spaniard did this season. But the Chelsea directors had decided to buy another star than giving confidence to one of their young boys.”
Lukaku continues:
“At this moment, I am at Everton and have a four-year contract. I’m happy but you never know in football.”
Fair enough. But wouldn’t it have been better to make that point to your agent, whoever it was, more vigorously before signing on the dotted line of a hugely lucrative deal, at a club who were prepared to break their transfer record for you?
It’s annoying when a player does it three years into a contract. Infuriating when it’s just two. But it’s unacceptable when you are just one year in and it leaves us all to wonder whether Everton was only ever seen as a quick stepping stone to bigger things for Lukaku.
The reality is that Everton are unlikely to get more than they paid for him so he can’t even argue that it’s a mutually beneficial move.
We just hope that Everton boss Roberto Martinez talks some sense into the young lad over the summer. Because the best thing for his career is undoubtedly to stay and improve at Goodison.
Everton fans: annoyed?
Vern Wilcox
Jun 3, 2015 at 9:37 pm
I think Romelu should be very quiet and try to improve (to mention just a few), his lousy first touch, his not being able to win a ball in the air, his apparent inability to stay onside and his attitude to other players if they dare to have a shot instead of passing the ball to him on a sixpence. One thing is for sure, his head size is much greater than his footballing ability. And please Mr Mino Raiola, if Romelu a better striker than Diego Costa, could you have a word in José Mourinho’s shell like, get him to give us Deigo and a few £milion and we will gladly give Romelu back to him.
jonesy1878
Jun 3, 2015 at 10:39 pm
When you read that an agent is saying Lukaku is a better striker than Costa its hard to be angry. Its so far into the realms of fantasy and fiction as to constitute a joke. Lukaku was bought as a work in progress….the hope was the final product would be Drogba-esque and worth multiples of his purchase price. It was clearly going to take a good few seasons to polish the diamond to that level…which is still the case. When Romelu and his delusional agent grasp that things will be fine.