The Art of Silencing Detractors - Romelu Lukaku

By Александр Осипов from Ukraine - Ромелу Лукаку / Romelu Lukaku, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39340509

When Manchester United was trying to ship out Romelu Lukaku after an unproductive season, the sneers, that the Belgian had heard so often, were back. He won't get another shot at a big club, they said. An overweight flat-track bully without a first-touch, they called him.

But Lukaku had heard all this before. He had lived virtually all his life surrounded by doubters. When he had decided to rescue his family through football as a kid growing up in abject poverty, they had laughed. As an 11-year-old experiencing a growth spurt, parents of other kids playing in the youth league had doubted his real age. Lukaku — his parents could not afford to attend games — had faced them down alone, handing them his birth certificate.

At Anderlecht, a youth coach once bet with him that he would not score 25 goals for the U19s that season. Lukaku did it by November. There was no surprise when Chelsea splashed out and signed on the then-17-year-old star in the making.

By Дмитрий Голубович - https://www.soccer0010.com/galery/1013619/photo/673729, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62821532

His doubters were out again when he was sidelined at Stamford Bridge despite showing early promise. Lukaku had been so disappointed by his lack of games that he had refused to hold the Champions League trophy that Chelsea won in his debut season.

After a couple of seasons on loan, Lukaku finally settled in at Everton and began scoring for fun; they sneered that he had found his level.

At Goodison Park, he became the first foreigner to score 80 goals in the league before turning 24, prompting Manchester United to sign him.

Yet, his detractors were still waiting to jeer him when his Old Trafford stint began to crumble.

By Дмитрий Садовников - soccer.ru, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70176058

After moving to Inter Milan, Lukaku rediscovered that steely determination that had made him silence his doubters for all these years. He scored in his first game for Inter and then did not stop scoring.

A winner in his second match, nine goals in his first eleven games! He ended up having the best season by an Inter forward since the legendary Ronaldo 22 years ago — thirty-four goals in all competitions.

And in this season of 2020-2021, Lukaku has picked up from where he left off, scoring in Inter's first Serie A game against Fiorentina over the weekend. He shut his doubters up last season.

This season is about making sure that he lets his goals do the talking and bringing in more silverware for his club.