Romelu Lukaku has already regaled everyone with the strikers he regards as the best on the planet or, as he succinctly put it, “[Luis] Suarez, [Robert] Lewandowski, [Karim] Benzema, [Edinson] Cavani. That’s it. I’m not looking at the rest. No chance.”
So, it would be interesting if he ever reels off the names of his toughest opponent. Perhaps Vincent Kompany and John Terry would feature. What about Farhad Moshiri?
Everton turned down a £70 million bid from Chelsea last summer for Lukaku with Moshiri newly ensconced at Goodison Park as the club’s major shareholder. Almost 12 months on, there is no suggestion the Iranian billionaire is about to roll over and wave the forward through the exit door despite his apparent eagerness to move on.
This is the new Everton that Lukaku is signed up to for the next two years. A club intent on challenging their rivals and one for whom Lukaku’s value is best measured in a blue jersey rather than a fantasy figure transfer fee that would simply swell an already considerable kitty.
Of course, it is true that the player’s agent, Mino Raiola, has a habit of making deals happen and delivering what buying clubs — and his clients — want.
Raiola was a guest last Thursday at the London premiere of Everton chairman Bill Kenwright’s new film “Another Woman’s Son” and was spotted in conversation with Moshiri and, briefly, manager Ronald Koeman.
Yet it was Kenwright and Moshiri who were sat together. They share the tightest of bonds and the strongest of desires to re-establish the Merseyside club as a force.
Chelsea will be back and there is plenty about a return to Stamford Bridge that will appeal to Lukaku
There is no smoke and mirrors about Lukaku’s unwillingness to sign the most lucrative contract in Everton’s history at £140,000 a week. It is not about release clauses. The subject has not featured during discussions with Everton having made clear at the outset of talks that one would not be entertained.
They have steadfastly refused to insert them into contracts ever since reluctantly agreeing to Marouane Fellaini’s demands for an exit figure which led to his move to Manchester United in 2013 [ironically, United CEO Ed Woodward ended up paying more than he would have needed to a few weeks earlier as Kenwright showed himself to be negotiator extraordinaire once more].
This is purely about Lukaku, who is proving himself worth in the region of the £89 million fee United paid for Paul Pogba, wanting to play in the Champions League. It is an ambition of which he has hardly made a secret.
“I have been playing [professionally] since I was 16 and never had a taste of the Champions League. It is going to be seven years. You think about it,” he said in March last year, almost 12 months to the very day last week when he repeated that sermon.
He is in a hurry to succeed and his numbers as a goalscorer are quite exceptional. Chelsea will be back and there is plenty about a return to Stamford Bridge that will appeal to Lukaku, three years after his permanent exit.
Yet he should be wary of Koeman’s comments in the aftermath of the interview, which appeared in
The Times and underlined where the 23-year-old marksman sees himself and caused such a furore.
“I am not so afraid of his situation because the player has two more years on his contract,” said Koeman, who has started speaking like the manager Evertonians would expect him to be after the faux pas earlier in his tenure.
“Of course that gives me confidence. Everyone knows what can happen in football, but you need to respect your contract.
“The final word is always to the board of the club and if we don’t sell the player, we don’t sell the player. The people in the club are really strong enough to keep something and, if we go to that direction, it’s the final decision for the board of the club.”
Moshiri has blocked Lukaku’s departure once. An interesting summer looms.
