When the Premier League ended on 21st May 2017, Manchester United finished at a disappointing 6th position after a few high-profile signings. While the defence was okay at best, what hurt them was the profligacy of their forwards in front of goal despite their midfielders creating a good number of openings.
Manchester United didn’t possess the depth in their strikeforce. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has now departed, scored 17 league goals but didn’t have a good enough goals per shots ratio, and Marcus Rashford, despite putting in good Cup performances, didn’t have the consistency to perform in the league.
With Ibrahimovic gone, Manchester United were linked with quite a few forwards in Europe. Be it Antoine Griezmann, Andrea Belotti or Alvaro Morata, if they could score goals they were targets for United. While United’s pursuit of Morata was well documented by the media, one name that looked to be heading back to Stamford Bridge and replace Diego Costa was Romelu Lukaku.
Transferred from Chelsea in 2014 due to lack of first team opportunities, he showed his potential at Everton that prompted Chelsea to buy him in the first place. Last season, Lukaku scored a career high 25 goals in 37 appearances - a return which is enough to link anyone with a top club these days - and realised that he had to take the next big step in his career.
Manchester United might have pulled off one of the hijacks of the season in luring him to Old Trafford (ala Pedro in 2015). This may or may not have been influenced by Real Madrid’s rejections of several substantial offers for Morata, but it clearly shows that Manchester United mean business every time they dip into the market.
Now that Lukaku is closing in on a move to Old Trafford, which will be confirmed in the coming days, we however analyse why the Belgian is a better fit than Morata in Manchester United’s assault on all fronts for the coming season.
Form
If breakthrough seasons are anything to go by, Romelu Lukaku might have had one last season. In the past 3 seasons alone, he has 50+ goals to his name and is also the undisputed starter for both club and country.
Morata, on the other hand, has suffered due to Zinedine Zidane playing Karim Benzema which has resulted in a hot and cold second run at Madrid. At Juventus, the presence of Carlos Tevez, Mario Mandzukic and emergence of a certain Paulo Dybala hindered his development curve.
Right now, very few young players at various clubs are given time to settle in. The case could become more prevalent at United who need someone like Lukaku to go all guns blazing right from the start and cannot afford a slow start from a budding young striker to play catch up in the end.
Premier League tried and tested
Since Lukaku left Anderlecht in 2011, he has spent 6 seasons in the Premier League consisting of a lone year at Chelsea and subsequent loan spells at West Brom and Everton where he finally acclimitised to the pace and made the switch to Everton on a permanent basis.
Whereas Alvaro Morata may be a promising forward who has played for top clubs like Real Madrid and Juventus, the Premier League is not everyone’s cup of tea. Memphis Depay, Angel Di Maria, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Radamel Falcao et al. have failed to adjust to the demands of the Premier League and the unfortunate thing is that all of them flopped at United after good seasons elsewhere.
So, the club are well aware of the reason and rather than taking a gamble on Morata they have rightfully gone after Lukaku who already has 186 Premier League appearances to his name.
Style of play
Since both players are out-and-out number 9s, it may be a difficult task to find a difference in their gameplay. However if we were to look at some of the goals that Lukaku has scored, we see that he is the archetypal forward that Mourinho likes who can bully defenders in the opposition box as well as hold up play.
Also read: Lukaku will have to improve at Manchester United, says former Everton star Campbell
Now, if we go over Morata’s goals, we see a distinct fact that he is a poacher, someone who can snap up the rebound or finish that 50-50 chance. Since a lot of Manchester United’s creativity is provided by Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera through their floating through balls, Lukaku might just be the perfect physical and brawny forward to control them and finish the chances. Lest we forget, he has the pace to burn as well.
Prolific goalscorer
Last season, Romelu Lukaku (25 goals) missed out on the Premier League golden boot by a whisker to Harry Kane (28 goals). Alvaro Morata scored 15 league goals in 26 appearances, albeit most coming off the bench. While those numbers may be a tad confusing, a look at their top flight careers will help you to get a clearer picture. Lukaku has a staggering 118 goals in 259 appearances whereas Morata has a record of 40 goals in 126 appearances.
If Manchester United had finished even half their chances last season, they might have finished a few places higher. That is exactly what Lukaku can do. Finish chances. Not only that, his big frame allows him to hold off players and create chances for other players as evident from another 6 assists.
If Mourinho does not repeat the mistakes he made with Lukaku, he can build an excellent team for a few seasons to come with the likes of Lukaku, Pogba, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and so on reaching their potential by then.
