Would you pay £24m for Lukaku?

[bluebud]

Thing with all of those players is that they weren't blessed with the pure physicality that Lukaku has from an early age - they developed the ability to shrug off opponented and/or find space to work before their mid-20s. Lukaku has had a leg up with his strength, but the question is whether he's now plateaued because of a lack of technical potential.

We've seen him struggle for the entirety of 2014 for one reason or another and he's shown little sign of adapting his game to make a bigger impact, which is worrying.

Victor had the same physical advantage, he never scored 32 goals in two seasons and never will, to say that Rom's game is solely based on his size is wrong IMO, he is a very good finisher, size doesn't affect a players ability to hit the back of the net.

 

[tim cahill]

Where's this £24m figure come from?

 

[Dexter]

Looks like you've been brainwashed by some of the lunatics on here. Sorry to hear that mate.



Neymar played in Brazil, Ibrahimovic in Holland and Sweden, Falcao in Argentina and Columbia, Suarez in Uruguay and then Holland, Aguero in Argentina, Huntelaar in Holland, Van Persie in Holland and Ronaldo in Portugal. None of those are elite leagues, and Lukaku outscored most of them by far. 30 of those goals have come in the PL before he was 21, which would put him 6th in that list and ahead of Suarez if you're going to skew the argument to suit yourself and just count those goals.

Your argument is a load of crap, mate.

There's probably a lot of other things to be taken into account like comparable size, maturation, who was handling their progression etc, you can't just put a list up and say it is the be all and end all, anyway put your money were your mouth is and take me up on this bet, £100 per season for as long as he's with us, we'll send the money in to the site and they can donate it to a charity of there choosing, you up for it

 

[Dithering Dougie]

No mate you're missing the point spectacularly, i said ONE of the main reasons, i do know about the goals and possible potential for the future

So why bring your argument round to how much he'd be worth in the future? No one else has it's just you, you're dismissing his achievements to date as well as writing of his future capabilities. You're bouncing round all over the place, stating he won't progress and he'll turn out to be Andy Carroll with no evidence and then for some strange reason you've said his future value will be £25m. Andy Carroll isn't a £25m footballer, if he wasn't English he'd would be worth the £15m West Ham payed for him.

 

[bignev23]

I remember Maradona getting sold for a world record £5 million to Barcelona FFS Im getting old, Everyone seems too expensive to me.

 

[Baines' left foot]

There's probably a lot of other things to be taken into account like comparable size, maturation, who was handling their progression etc, you can't just put a list up and say it is the be all and end all, anyway put your money were your mouth is and take me up on this bet, £100 per season for as long as he's with us, we'll send the money in to the site and they can donate it to a charity of there choosing, you up for it

Yeah, we could also do with analysing his diet, what he was eating and what quantities etc... he may have had much better nutritional advice from the club he was at whilst Neymar and co. were busy eating Pop Tarts for breakfast and McDonalds for lunch and tea.

And no, because judging by your argument I'd never win! You'd find some way of arguing that Lukaku had a worse season than the last. Plus, I'm as tight as a duck's arse hole.

 

[Dexter]

That's it for me now, i'm staying away from the Lukaku threads

 

[Tubey]

Victor had the same physical advantage, he never scored 32 goals in two seasons and never will, to say that Rom's game is solely based on his size is wrong IMO, he is a very good finisher, size doesn't affect a players ability to hit the back of the net.

I'm not saying his game is all about that (in fact I think he's an awful target man), but I'm saying that his impact has been aided by his strength.

He has a level of technical ability in that he can run with pace and power and he's a lethal finisher, but I'm very concerned that he doesn't have the potential to develop his game to become a striker that is needed in our system (drop deep and be able to take a ball in tight, lay it off and spin to get on the end of wide deliveries).

If he lacks the potential to go beyond where he is now, then whilst he'll always be a very good player for a counter attacking side and we'd always make £15m on him because of the assets he has, the problem will be that he could go through very long barren spells and be proper Jelavic'd in the long run.

For £20m+, he's a risky signing - not in terms of return on investment, but in spending that money putting all the eggs in one basket and not improving the team unit overall. If we can get him for under £20m and bring in Traore to ease the burden on him and give him every chance to understand a more expansive role in the team unit, then I'm all for it, but I won't be crying any tears if we miss out on him for £25m approx.

 

[bluebud]

I'm not saying his game is all about that (in fact I think he's an awful target man), but I'm saying that his impact has been aided by his strength.

He has a level of technical ability in that he can run with pace and power and he's a lethal finisher, but I'm very concerned that he doesn't have the potential to develop his game to become a striker that is needed in our system (drop deep and be able to take a ball in tight, lay it off and spin to get on the end of wide deliveries).

If he lacks the potential to go beyond where he is now, then whilst he'll always be a very good player for a counter attacking side and we'd always make £15m on him because of the assets he has, the problem will be that he could go through very long barren spells and be proper Jelavic'd in the long run.

For £20m+, he's a risky signing - not in terms of return on investment, but in spending that money putting all the eggs in one basket and not improving the team unit overall. If we can get him for under £20m and bring in Traore to ease the burden on him and give him every chance to understand a more expansive role in the team unit, then I'm all for it, but I won't be crying any tears if we miss out on him for £25m approx.

I agree with your post in general but Roberto must think he has the potential to fulfil the role he has in mind for him, I don't think we will pay £25 upfront for him either, I'd say £5-6 mil will be performance based so if he doesn't achieve what is hoped of him then we won't end up paying as much. Traore would be great as well, imagine him playing up top with Rom and Kev in a front three when pushing for a late goal.

 

[Rook]

I doubt we can afford 25M for him but in today's market he's probably worth it.

 

[royalbalou]

Whether you rate him or not you've got to be realistic about the players our club can currently attract. People are comparing him to Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Suarez etc...but these players are not remotely on our radar. We are still an attractive option but at the level below these..and Lukaku is definitely in this level, he's young and, to a certain extent, proven in a top league..this means you pay a premium.
Are we taking a risk? Of course...but if we don't start taking risks then we don't push on..and I for one am sick of finishing 5th and accepting we're not good enough to challenge the 'big clubs'...we are a big club!

 

[Carlito]

I'd probably just take the risk based purely on his goal record/age, but the aforementioned holes in his game are quite gaping and I do wonder if defenders will manage to figure him out sooner or later.

 

[Deleted member 28206]

£24 seems reasonable, I've got that in me pocket now tbh.

 

[bluerobert]

Didn't Villa pay £24 million for Bent? If that's the benchmark of a £24 million striker then pay it. For me you don't win things without a goal scorer. His record suggests he will provide goals and his age and the coaching and management we have at the club should only improve him

 

[zirc]

Can we pay a fiver up front and the rest in instalments? /kenwright