Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Everton currently have a striker shortage, making their post about Romelu Lukaku somewhat frustrating.
Currently, the Toffees only have Thierno Barry as their recognised striker, after selling Beto and failing to bring in Folarin Balogun after his last-second change of heart on transfer deadline day. The striker had grown uncomfortable after Everton expressed reservations about his condition and pulled the plug.
Balogun has not really been missed too much so far, with Barry scoring five goals across all competitions.
But he remains a big work in progress, and someone fans hope will turn into a top Premier League striker- much like Romelu Lukaku was. The Belgian was the subject of a post by Everton on social media yesterday, and it was rather a reminder of a sad reality.
Romelu Lukaku has never been replaced by Everton
Yesterday, amid the lull of the international break, Everton took to social media to post about Lukaku. They uploaded a clip of a game against Newcastle United in the 2013/14 season, in which Lukaku scored a brace and also laid on an assist for Ross Barkley.
The clip was uploaded with the caption ‘Nobody could handle prime Lukaku’.
And few fans, especially Evertonians, could disagree with that statement.
Lukaku had joined Everton on loan from Chelsea for the 13/14 season, and it did not take him long to endear himself to the Goodison faithful. After being ineligible to face his parent club in the first game after he signed, Lukaku made his mark by scoring four goals and making one assist in Everton’s next three games.
The goals would continue to flow, and even an ankle ligament injury he picked up in February didn’t really affect him too much. He finished that first campaign with 15 goals to his name, prompting Everton to sign him permanently for about £28 million, a club record at the time.
Lukaku went on to become one of the most fearsome strikers in the Premier League. His power, speed and lethal finishing put him right up there as one of the top marksmen, and very few defenders could really handle him.
He was especially amazing in what would turn out to be his last season at Everton, scoring 25 Premier League goals in 2016/17. Manchester United came in with a £75 million bid, plus £15 million in add-ons, that was simply too much money for the Toffees to turn down. That remains a club-record sale.
That was a significant day for Everton, because it can be argued that the club have actually never replaced Lukaku since he left. In fact, there have been quite a few players who were many levels below him, such as Sandro Ramirez, Cenk Tosun, Henry Onyekuru, Moise Keane, Salomon Rondon and Neal Maupay.
Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin both had very good spells at Everton and scored goals. But neither were as clinical as Lukaku or as hard for opposition defenders to play against.
The sad reality is that Everton haven’t had as good a striker as him in the near 10 years since his exit.
Season for Everton Goals Assists
13/14 (loan) 15 7
14/15 10 5
15/16 18 6
16/17 25 6
Thierno Barry must study old Lukaku clips
Everton’s only current striker Barry is the latest to hopefully try and get somewhere near the level Lukaku showed during his Goodison days.
Like the Belgian, he is tall. And he’s also quick for someone of his size. But he does not yet have that same physicality as Lukaku did, and we are yet to see him throw defenders out of his way like Lukaku could.
And of course, the Frenchman does not have that clinical finishing ability. But it is still early days for him at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and a video released by the striker recently on his YouTube channel really showcased how much this all means to him, how much pressure he puts himself under and how hard he is working to improve.
If he continues to put the work in, and perhaps also looks to study how Lukaku used to play, perhaps he can one day get to the former Toffees star’s level.