As Inter prepare to welcome Lazio to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday evening, Romelu Lukaku will be looking to continue his impressive start to life in Serie A.
Antonio Conte had been a fan of the big Lukaku for a long time before ever arriving in Milan. He attempted to sign Lukaku during his tenure with Chelsea and wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to work with the Belgian when he became available this summer.
From the outside looking in, the signing appeared to be a risk. With poor performances blighting his time at Manchester United, splashing out €80 million to bring him to Inter was a gamble.
Although Lukaku struggled on times at United, he managed to return 42 goals in 96 appearances over two seasons, not a bad ratio for any striker. Maybe Conte’s decision to pull the trigger on a deal was less of a gamble than it would appear.
Lukaku’s arrival in Italy has been better than many expected, scoring three goals in four league games, all of which under turbulent circumstances. After getting off the mark with a goal against Lecce on opening day, Lukaku was then the victim of racial abuse by Cagliari fans the following weekend, monkey noises were aimed in his direction as he prepared to bury the penalty that would give Inter a 2-1 win.
The striker was again dragged into another racism storm several days later, comments made about him by TV pundit Luciano Passirani, causing further outrage.
Lukaku has taken everything in his stride and hasn’t allowed the deplorable actions of a minority detract from his on-field performances. His performance in the Derby della Madonnina last weekend proved what a force he can be for Inter.
Milan struggled to contain Lukaku as he found space and held up the ball well, his partnership with Lautaro Martinez has started to look more dangerous with every game. He capped a solid performance with a goal, rising highest to meet a cross from Nicolo Barella, with his deft header nestling neatly in the far corner.
Lukaku isn’t the finished article yet, he still needs to improve his first touch and his finishing isn’t always as clinical as it could be. But he appears revitalised playing under Conte, saying in a recent interview “he [Conte] is a really good coach because he is someone who helps players to develop a lot”.
With Conte helping to provide that development in Lukaku’s game, it won’t be a shock to see the Belgian become the top striker in Serie A. Any player who is happy and being nurtured by his manager can be a force, let alone one who is already supremely talented.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com