A total spend of € 370 million, the thrilling transfer saga of Romelu Lukaku:

The tale of Romelu Lukaku's crazy and somewhat bizarre transfer history has been talked about for years, he has played for 7 clubs in 3 of Europe's top leagues and has accumulated a staggering € 370 million total transfer fee (including loan spells) over his 15 year long lustrous career.

RSC Anderlecht:

Lukaku's career began in the Belgian capital city of Brussels where he played for the team, R.S.C Anderlecht.

Lukaku made his professional debut for Anderlecht in August of 2011 where he was about 18 years of age, however Lukaku has some history with Anderlecht as he played for their youth team from 2008 to 2011, the year he was of course promoted to the senior team.

Stats:

Lukaku had a somewhat prolific spell at Anderlecht in their senior team, where he played a total of 98 games in the Belgium Pro League and other various competitions for the club, he scored 41 goals and racked up 17 assists.

1st transfer to Chelsea F.C:

In the 2011/2012, Romelu Lukaku completed a transfer to the English premiership side Chelsea F.C, he was sold by RSC Anderlecht for a grand fee of €15 million, which was quite a lot of money for a player that was only 18, this transfer put the young Romelu on the map, and expectations we’re already high.

Stats:

Lukaku was able to garner a decent amount of playing time in the 2011/2012 season, for Chelsea, he made 21 total appearances across the Premier League, EFL Cup, Premier Reserve League and the FA Cup.

He was able to score a total of 9 goals across all competitions and was able to contribute 2 assists.

It is important to note that during the Premier League season he only made 1 start, this shows that he was still clearly adapting to the Premier League as he wasn’t able to score any goals.

Loan to West Bromwich Albion:

After his first full season at Chelsea, the decision was made to loan out Lukaku to fellow Premiership side, West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan deal.

Steve Clarke, the West Brom manager at the time had good things to say about Romelu:

‘’He’s strong, powerful, enthusiastic and eager to learn’’, said Clarke, he also went on to describe the reason behind Lukaku being loaned out by Chelsea:

‘’With the caliber of strikers Chelsea have, he has found it difficult to break into the first team with the Blues, but he has the experience of working at a top Premier League club, he just needs minutes to develop’’, added Clarke.

Stats:

Well Clarke kept to his word and gave Lukaku the minutes he needed, the younger striker made 35 Premier League appearances in the 2012/2013 season, where he made an instant impact, scoring 17 goals (more than any other Chelsea player) and contributing 4 assists

This season can be seen as Lukaku's break out season, as he was able to score in his debut match against Liverpool and was able to score a final day hat-trick against the Red Devils after being subbed on at half time. He was also able to help guide West Brom to their best finish in Premier League history. This season really showed the world what Lukaku was capable of as a striker.

Fast forward to the present day Lukaku still sees his time at West Brom as a key period in the early stages of his career, and he reflects on times with the Baggies fondly.

Loan to Everton

After completing his season long loan spell to West Brom, Lukaku returned to the bridge, perhaps hopeful that he might be able to score some more minutes and break into the first team after his prolific campaign at West Brom, however this wouldn’t be the case as Chelsea striker Fernando Tores was still the number one choice, but Chelsea still valued Lukaku's development so they agreed to send him out on another season long loan to another fellow Premiership side, Everton.

Stats:

Lukaku delivered during his loan spell to Everton, and hit the ground running, he made 35 total appearances and was able to score 16 goals and tally up 7 assists. This was great to see because he was able to cement himself as a core attacking player who can also dish the ball out if needed. He was able to guide Everton to a very strong 5th place finish.

The Evertonian:

After Lukaku's strong loan spell to Everton, the toffees knew their journey with Romelu wasn’t over, and they made sure it wasn’t.

In 2014, Everton sign Romelu Lukaku for £28 million, the move was spurred by his 16 goals in 33 appearances contribution and after he helped Everton secure 5th place in the Premier League, and securing them Europa League football.

Lukaku commented on his decision to leave the Blues: “I decided very quickly I wanted to come back here because it was a good step for me,” said Lukaku. “This is the place I belong. He also commented on the fact that he was 21 years old and he needed a solid place to gain experience.

The £28 million pound fee, broke Everton's previous record signing of just £15 million.

The then Everton manager, Roberto Martinez also commented on the clubs decision to sign the striker: “It is fair to say Romelu was our number one target to bring in and the pursuit was relentless, but it had to be a record transfer and it is worth every single penny and effort we put behind it’’

Lukaku’s 3 year Everton career, would now begin.

Everton 2014/2015:

Lukaku's first non-loan season was not as strong as his previous season at Everton, he was able to reach 20 goal contributions, but just barely, not showing that goal scoring prowess he once put on display, he was well off his game, but this was put into reason because of a toe injury he picked up during international duties. He was also perhaps strained mentally as a close friend of his, sadly passed away. Lukaku had a dying first touch issue that had to be sorted out in training as this would led to him losing a lot of possessions, which wasn’t ideal.

Overall, there was a lot to dwell on this season, but the toffees had to remain confident that their key player would soon return to form.

Everton 2015/2016:

It was a new season, and Lukaku had a lot to improve on from the previous season, could he deliver?

After matchday 1, things were not looking good as Lukaku played the full 90 and didn’t score or contribute to any goals, but the mood was quickly lifted as he netted a brace on matchday 2 against the saints, he would then go on a barren goal spell, not scoring for about 4 games, but another brace against his old employers, West Bromwich Albion, led to a quick pick up in form as he would smoothly score for a decent number of games, and at the end of it all he was able to pick up 25 total goals across all competitions, however Everton sat at 11th in the Premier League once it was all said and done, and undoubtedly, the fans expected and wanted more.

The end of the Everton Saga:

It was the 2016/2017 season, and Lukaku knew he had to make an impact.

Everton had just appointed new manager Ronaldo Koeman, and fans were anxious but also excited to see how Lukaku would play under him, and to be blunt, not a lot changed.

Lukaku scored a strong 25 goals across all competitions, 18 in the Premier League, which was the same tally as his previous season. A strong team effort from toffees carried them to a higher table finish than the season prior, as they were able to finish in 7th place.

But this season really summed up Lukaku’s time as an Evertonian, he was no longer developing, and being stuck in a middle table side was not on the cards for Lukaku, so he knew he had to move on to pastors new.

The Red Devil:

In the 2017/2018 season, Romelu Lukaku put pen to paper and signed the contract, which made him a Manchester United player. This transfer was groundbreaking, Man United are one of the most if not the most history rich and prolific teams in the whole Premier League, and the amount of money they paid for Lukaku backed this up. They paid a staggering £ 85 million for the striker, which was almost double his market value.

The then Manchester manager, Jose Mourinho, shed some light on the club's decision to buy Romelu:

"Romelu is a natural fit for Manchester United. He has a big personality and is a big player. It is only natural that he wants to develop his career at the biggest club. He will be a great addition to the group.’’

Manchester United, Debut season:

But how did he fare in his first season at Old Trafford? Well, Lukaku found his shooting boots early on, as he scored 2 goals in his first ever Premier League for the club, and he continued this form for many weeks, up to the end of the season where he missed out on 3 games in a row due to ankle injury.

He was also very present in Man United champions league journey, scoring in the group stages and in the round of 16, where Man United was unfortunately knocked out.

But in the end he finished with 27 goals in 51 appearances for the 2017/2018 season.

Manchester United, 2018/2019 season:

This was perhaps a season to forget for Romelu, he only scored 15 goals across all competitions, a very poor low, especially because he hasn’t hit such a low tally for years.

He also struggled to keep consistent minutes, as his playing time fluxuated a lot, under new United interim coach, Ole. He also suffered multiple injuries this season, which seemed to stick with him even after returning from them.

Overall, the pace of his play this season really doesn’t leave a lot to be said.

The Inter Milan Revival:

The sluggish final season at Manchester United, led to the closing of Lukaku's Old Trafford journey, and he set his sights elsewhere, he set his sights on the Seria A, more specifically, he had his eyes on Inter Milan, a topflight Italian club, rich with history.

Lukaku signed for Inter Milan in the 2019/20 season, for a fee of 74 million euros, which correlated with his market value at the time, but it was still a lot of money for a man who rapidly lost form the season prior, but Inter had faith in Romelu, and he paid back this faith ten fold.

Inter Milan, Debut season:

He adapted incredibly well to the Italian league, he scored 23 goals in the Seria A, where he proved himself fit enough to play the full 90 minutes in almost every game.

He also tried his best to save Inter in the champions league, where they were unfortunately knocked out in the group stages, but there was still hope as they were pushed into the Europa League, where they made a great run, and with Lukaku’s help, he was able to score in every major match and guided them to the final, where they were unfortunately beaten narrowly by Sevilla 3 to 2.

Overall, this was a great season for Lukaku and Inter, as they finished 2nd in the league.

Inter Milan, 2020/2021 season:

This season would mark one of Lukaku’s strongest seasons to date, he was able to guide Inter Milan with 24 goals and 10 assists in the Seria A to the Coppa Campioni, the 1st place Seria A prize, Inter Milan smashed all other teams in the league, outscoring second place by over 10 points, and Lukaku was a key part of this winning Inter Milan team.

The Blue return:

The 2021/2022 season marked the return of Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge, he was blue once again. However, this move would go down as an infamous transfer and would forever be remembered as the reunion that led to a downfall period in Lukaku’s career.

But why was this move so infamous? Well, let's start with the transfer fee that Chelsea paid for Lukaku, they paid a breath taking 115 million pounds for Lukaku, now this price at the time could be justified because of the great seasons he was having with Inter Milan, but for what Lukaku actually delivered on the pitch for Chelsea, it is now seem as a complete utter waste.

There was also a huge concern about Lukaku’s attitude towards the club during his time there in 2021. He would often make remarks about the team and how he was unhappy playing under new Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, and that he was not fond of his Inter Milan exit, and would often link himself in interviews with different teams.

And on the pitch things we’re not looking any better.

Chelsea 2021/2022 Stats:

Lukaku started a total of 44 games across all competitions for Chelsea, however his performances we’re lackluster to say the least, he scored a total of 15 times, however it can be accused that he was facing injury woes, but his bad attitude and his dislike for the club we’re also leading to terrible performances on the pitch.

Overall, this return didn’t pan out the way the Chelsea staff and the Chelsea fans wanted it too.

The Rigorous loan spells:

Another reason the Chelsea transfer was so infamous, was because of the domino effect of loan spells it created. Since Lukaku wasn’t happy with Chelsea, they allowed him to go back to his old team, Inter Milan, for a season in the hope that he would gain back the form he once had, however this would fail because Lukaku would be injured for over 12 games that season, so he returned to Stamford Bridge somewhat worse off, as he heavily underperformed.

To combat this, once Lukaku was healthy again, they sent him on another loan, this time to Seria A side AS Roma, this loan spell was a bit more bright for Lukaku as he was able to play good European football with Roma, and was able to garner some of that form back, scoring 21 goals in 41 appearances

Present Day:

After his loan spell at Roma, Lukaku returned to the bridge, however it was clear that Chelsea had no intention or interest in keeping Lukaku around, they no longer thought that he would fit their new long term plans and their new project under new owner Todd Bholey, so they decided too permanently sell Lukaku, to another Seria A side, Napoli.

Chelsea were never going to be able to make up the 115 million they invested in Lukaku because his market value had drastically decreased, meaning they had to settle for a sale of 30 million pounds.

And with this final sale, that marked the end of Lukaku's transfer saga, he has played for a total of 7 clubs, and has accumulated a total transfer price of 370 million (including loan spells).

Thank you for all reading, and I hope you learnt a bit about Lukaku's thrilling transfer history.

WRITTEN BY SAHIB SINGH KHERA