Everton forward Romelu Lukaku questioned the English club’s ambitions to fight for trophies in the wake of him rejecting a lucrative contract extension, the Belgian said in an interview with the Telegraph. “I don’t know, I don’t know what the board’s plan is. I don’t really know,” said Lukaku about his future with the Toffees.
Less than a month ago, the 23-year-old gave a hint about his future during the epic Champions League tie between Manchester City and Monaco, which saw the Sky Blues clinch the slugfest 5-3, “UCL is where reputations are build... what a competition What a game,” Lukaku tweeted after the game.
The 23-year-old, while recognising the improved investment in the club after Farhad Moshiri’s arrival, lamented on his club’s missed targets, “Obviously stuff is changing and stuff is happening, but there were some players that we could have got, that I knew the club could have got, and they didn’t get. And they are playing in this league. I am not saying names, but they are doing well,” Lukaku said.
He added: “We want the best for the club because we have great facilities, good fans. An example like Everton in the community who work hard and you have a good bunch of lads.
Lukaku has scored over 20 goals each of the last three seasons. He is currently the joint highest goal-scorer in the English Premier League with 19 strikes. The towering striker stated he looked to scale the heights that his predecessors did at Merseyside club, “Everton as a football club has a great history. But the future has to be written. Because we always talk about the teams of the 80s and 70s and if you look it was great. But we as players, we want the fans talking about us instead of us talking about them”
“No disrespect, but you know what I mean. You want to be remembered as well. No matter where you play you want to be remembered. You cannot only be remembered by scoring goals, you want to be remembered by winning trophies,” Lukaku added.
Lukaku emphasised the need for his side build on their glory days in the past, “But at the end of the day fans want to see trophies, players want trophies so we need to try more, give a bit more. That is the only thing I would say. You should not shy away from it,” he said.
The former Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion player had no hesitation in admitting that he is one of the best in the division, “At the minute I am one of the best strikers in the league. If I don’t say that I am one of the best I am shooting myself in the head. At the minute, I am one of the best in the Premier League, 100 per cent,” Lukaku said.
He also didn’t mince words when asked if he can be among the world’s best, “Definitely. But to do that, you need the platform to show yourself,” he quipped.