An exceptional prodigy at Losc, his training club, until his departure for Chelsea in 2012, Eden Hazard could have formed a fiery offensive duo with a compatriot, Romelu Lukaku, whom he then worked alongside for many years in the Belgian selection. Lukaku has indeed passed tests at the Lille training center in order to join the Dogues center. However, the giant born in Antwerp never finished his training in France and therefore did not make his professional debut in Ligue 1. And for good reason, he was asked to do a medical examination to certify his age…
“I was 14 years old, I was impressed by the Luchin estate. Everything was going well until they took me for a scan. In Anderlecht, many young people who were not born in Belgium had to do that. I went out and said to my father: “I’m not signing here!”According to them, I had bones that were three years older. The following year, Lille came back, but it was too late, Anderlecht continued to outclass me, to the point of making me play in reserve.tells Lukaku in the last special issue of So Foot dedicated to number 9.
Lukaku, Chelsea very quickly
Outclassed at Anderlecht, the powerful striker finally made his debut at the age of 16 in May 2009 during a clash between the Mauves and Standard Liège. Lukaku then had two sensational seasons for a minor player (41 goals in 98 matches) before being bought by Chelsea for 20 million euros, when he had just celebrated his 18th birthday.
It was in England that the 1.91 left-hander exploded. Not with the Blues, but at West Brom then Everton, before joining Manchester United in 2017. He did not last forever with the catastrophic Red Devils and played his best football during two superb seasons at Inter, from 2019 to 2021. And “Big Rom” Lukaku, at 31, has a superb opportunity to win Serie A again at the forefront of the Napoli attack, which he joined last summer as part of a €30 million transfer.
