Moving Target – Romelu Lukaku

West Brom boss Steve Clarke continued to bolster his forward options last week by snapping up the highly-rated Romelu Lukaku on a season-long loan. The 19-year old arrives from Clarke’s former club Chelsea and, in a busy week for the Baggies, followed Markus Rosenberg to the Hawthorns as the new manager prepares for Saturday’s opener at home to Liverpool:

Lukaku becomes Clarke’s fifth signing since taking over the managerial reins earlier this summer and with Roberto Di Matteo keen to afford the young frontman plenty game time this season, there were several suitors queuing up for his temporary acquisition. The Baggies boss revealed he was keen to afford Lukaku a place in his first-team squad and expects the Belgian to play a significant part in the season ahead for the midlands outfit:

“I’m delighted to welcome Romelu to the club. He’s a strong, powerful centre-forward who is young, enthusiastic and eager to learn. He was also desperate to come here. With the calibre of strikers Chelsea have got, he’s found it difficult to break into the first team at Stamford Bridge. But he’s had a season working at a top Premier League club and he now needs more minutes on the pitch. We’re more than happy for Romelu to continue his development with us. I am sure he will be a big help to the squad over the course of the season.”

The Statistics

A prodigious talent, Lukaku joined his local team Rupel Boom at just five years of age before moving to the youth academy at Belgian Pro League side SK Lierse. He racked up the goals at an astonishing rate, scoring 121 times in just 68 games before signing a youth contract for Anderlecht – there, he continued to find the net with consummate ease, with 131 goals in 93 games, before making his first-team debut at the age of 16.

Despite the step up in class, Lukaku’s attacking threat showed little sign of abating. Breaking into the senior side at the tail end of 2008-09, he became a regular over the next couple of seasons and racked up 33 goals and 13 assists in just 73 games for the club before Chelsea came calling at the beginning of last term. Although he was heralded as the “new Didier Drogba” upon his arrival to the Bridge, Lukaku was afforded next to no game time; he started just one match last season, with seven brief sub appearances also thrown in and, as a result, accrued just a single assist. Over nine games for the Blues’ reserves, however, the youngster was far more prolific, scoring seven times and providing a pair of assists. On the international front, Lukaku has represented his country at every level from Under 15 to Under 21 and has found the net twice in 14 appearances for the senior side.

The Prospects

Speaking to the club’s official website upon completion of his move, the forward revealed he had been in regular contact with Clarke prior to making his decision. While the Chelsea connection played a part in the move, it’s clear that Lukaku has been promised plenty of game time by his new boss as Clarke looks to freshen up an attack that scored a mere 45 goals under Roy Hodgson in 2011/12:

Since the first day I spoke to Chelsea about going out on loan, I’ve spoken to the gaffer here a lot. He was the first person who contacted me and that means a lot. It will be good for my development as a young man. Hopefully, I can get to know all the players’ qualities so I can fit into the team very quickly. I want to finish as high as possible with the club next season and score goals. I don’t want to say a target but if I get off to a good start, and fit myself into the team, hopefully we will have a great season and keep the fans happy week in, week out.

While the versatility of Peter Odemwingie has seen the Nigerian utilised wide right in recent pre-season matches, Lukaku will surely be handed a central role in the campaign ahead. Priced at 6.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), he costs the same as fellow new boy Rosenberg but is 0.5 more expensive than Shane Long – a factor which could go against him when assessing West Brom’s options. Coming in at just 6.2 in the Sky Sports game, however, he is an intriguing prospect should he nail down a regular role – Odemwingie and Long are 8.0 and 7.7 in comparison. Today’s news that Simon Cox has left for Nottingham Forest certainly increases his chances of game time, too.

Much may depend on Clarke’s favoured formation; he has trialled 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 over the last few games but Lukaku’s strength and aerial presence makes him the ideal target man, with Long or perhaps Odemwingie playing on the shoulder of the last defender should the Baggies keep faith in a front two. At present, though, there are still enough question marks over his game time to deter Fantasy managers from investing in Lukaku – the likes of Djibril Cisse, Danny Graham and Mladen Petric are available for similar or cheaper prices in FPL and all three offer the guarantee of game time in addition to strong current form as the season approaches.

Looking at the opening schedule, Clarke has a reasonable run of fixtures between Gameweeks 3-7 which could potentially see Lukaku prosper if he is handed the game time he clearly anticipates. Three strong home games (EVE, RDG, QPR), supplemented by trips to Fulham and Villa, will be crucial for the new man in charge and as he looks to improve upon a home record that harvested a mere 21 goals at the Hawthorns last time round, Clarke could be set to turn to the towering Lukaku to replicate his Anderlecht form and get the Baggies off to a flying start.

Further Reference

Romelu Lukaku Wikipedia
Romelu Lukaku Statistics
Romelu Lukaku YouTube