Romelu Lukaku: from Anderlecht wonderkid to Premier League star, Inter Milan hero, and Belgium’s greatest-ever goalscorer. This is the story of how Lukaku went from mocked to magnificent — a striker rebuilt through setbacks, goals and redemption. Featuring his time at Chelsea, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Roma, Napoli, and Belgium’s golden generation, Matt explores every chapter of his incredible journey. The power, the pressure, the perception — and the truth behind it all.
00:00Romelu Lukaku might be the most confusing striker of this generation.
00:04On one hand, he's a record breaker, Belgium's all-time top goalscorer,
00:07a man who's hit double figures in goals almost everywhere he's been.
00:11And on the other hand, he's been called clumsy, heavy-footed,
00:14a flat-track bully who disappears when it matters most.
00:17One week, he's dominating defenders on the bigger stage.
00:19The next, he's a meme with a compilation of miss-hitters
00:22and heavy first touches shared a million times online.
00:26Before the criticism, before the jokes,
00:28Lukaku was a teenage phenomenon in Belgium.
00:31He wasn't fighting against perception.
00:33He was rewriting it, shattering records before he was even old enough to vote
00:37and still with some school homework to be completed.
00:40This is the story of how a boy-wanderer and elect
00:43became one of football's most expensive, divisive and enigmatic stars.
00:49This is Respect the Name, episode 5 with Romelu Lukaku.
00:53So, but here's Lukaku, inside of the post, into the net.
00:57After exploding onto the scene at Anderlecht,
01:10Lukaku wasn't just Belgium's next big thing, he was Europe's.
01:13At 16, he became the Pro League's youngest ever goal scorer.
01:16By 17, he had a league title and a golden boot to his name.
01:20And it wasn't long before the transfer rumours spiralled.
01:23Real Madrid scouts are spotted in the stands.
01:25AC Milan were supposedly preparing a massive bid for his signature.
01:29But one club made the most sense.
01:31Chelsea.
01:32A club where Romelu Lukaku's idol left his unforgettable mark on not only English,
01:37but European football.
01:39Didier Drogba's club.
01:41In 2011, at just 18 years old, Chelsea signed him for around £20 million.
01:45A dream move.
01:46Or at least that's how it looked.
01:48Because the reality was harsher.
01:49Chelsea were stacked with stars.
01:52Drogba.
01:53Torres.
01:53Inelka.
01:54Sturridge.
01:55Lukaku barely got a look in.
01:56He managed just 12 appearances in his debut season and didn't even score a single league goal.
02:01The frustration really showed as he famously refused to join in the celebrations after Chelsea's Champions League triumph in 2012.
02:09Admitting years later that he felt like a bystander and not really a contributor.
02:13It wasn't exactly the dream start to life at Stamford Bridge and although it wouldn't be his last shot at it, we'll get to that later.
02:20For the time being, the Belgian had to make do with a few years apart from his dream club.
02:24Firstly, with a loan deal to West Brom in 2012-2013, where the Premier League really saw what he could do.
02:31Now, I'm not going to reel off every good loan spell here in the Premier League, but I'm struggling to think of another young player going out on loan to a fellow Premier League side who has had a better loan spell than this.
02:5417 league goals in one season, including a ridiculous final day hat-trick against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in a 5-0 draw, basically stealing the headlines in Fergie's last ever match.
03:06This wasn't just a good season for a teenager.
03:09This was ridiculous.
03:11Yet, for some reason, Chelsea didn't see fit to give him another chance, despite the fact that his 17-goal haul meant that he outscored every Chelsea player that season.
03:20Everton, however, did.
03:24Everton, everton, everton, everton.
03:29For me, this is where we saw Lukaku blossom into the top-level centre-forward that we know he is.
03:34In four seasons at Goodison Park, he scored 68 league goals in 141 games.
03:39That is a ratio that put him alongside the league's best.
03:42He bullied defenders with his strength, sprinted past them at frightening speed, and most impressively, finished with both feet.
03:49That is quite rare.
03:50In his final season, he scored 25 Premier League goals, finishing second to only Harry Kane.
03:56But the critics, they never went away.
03:58People said his first touch was too heavy.
04:01He only scored against weaker teams.
04:02He lacked the finesse of a good striker.
04:05Pundits regularly overlooked the context that he was carrying a mid-table Everton side into European football almost single-handedly.
04:12When he turned down a contract renewal, Everton fans felt betrayed.
04:16But the truth was obvious.
04:17The big man needed a bigger stage.
04:20The Sharks were circling again.
04:21United, Chelsea again, even Bayern Munich were linked.
04:24And at 24 years old, with his goal-scoring record, there was always going to be big money on the table.
04:30The exact amount?
04:30He scored 75 million pounds from none other than Manchester United.
04:36This was it.
04:37This was the chance to prove that he wasn't just a stat padder, but a world-class number nine.
04:42Jose Mourinho told him he could be the new drogber, handed him the number nine shirt, and gave him the starting spot at a top side that he'd been craving since his dreams were dashed at Chelsea.
04:52And he started on fire.
04:55Two goals in his Premier League debut against West Ham.
04:58Goals in the Champions League.
04:5911 in his first 10 games.
05:02Old Trafford thought they had their new talisman, and why wouldn't they?
05:05His first season ended with 27 goals in all competitions.
05:08He scored in the FA Cup semi-final.
05:10He scored in the league against Chelsea and Liverpool, and looked like a proper United striker.
05:15In his second season, though, the problems deepened, where big chances missed in big games,
05:20combined with a change in manager, just seemed to throw him off his game.
05:24Mourinho was out, Solskjaer was brought in, and he often found himself on the bench for a new, young, exciting Marcus Rashford.
05:32Even when Lukaku did deliver, the narrative didn't change, as he was seen as the wrong fit for Manchester United.
05:38Granted, he wasn't the most typical United striker we've ever seen over the years.
05:42Not as technically gifted as Wayne Rooney, although let's be honest, who is?
05:46Not as clinical as Rud van Isteroy, not as elegant as Dimitar Berbatov.
05:50But the numbers tell a different story.
05:5242 goals in 96 appearances is not bad at all.
05:56The weight of the shirt, though, the spotlight at Old Trafford, and the endless criticism wore him down.
06:01And by the summer of 2019, at just 26, United cut ties with Lukaku,
06:05and he did, well, what seems to be a well-trodden path these days.
06:09Swapped the Premier League problems for success in Serie A.
06:12If England mocked him, Italy crowned him.
06:29Under Antonio Conte at Inter Milan, Lukaku was rebuilt.
06:32From the first game, he looked different, sharper, hungrier, more complete.
06:36In his debut Serie A season, he scored 23 goals.
06:39The following year, 24, with 11 assists to boot and Inter's first Scudetto in 11 years.
06:46His partnership with Artaro Martinez, dubbed the Lula duo, ripped Serie A apart.
06:51Lukaku dominating derbies, scoring four times against AC Milan in just two years.
06:56In one iconic derby, he sprinted from his own half to score.
07:00This is the Romelu Lukaku that everyone knew was there all along.
07:02Conte's system was perfect for him.
07:05He redefined his hold-up play, made him press smarter,
07:08and unleashed him as a counter-attacking machine.
07:11All of a sudden, the clumsy striker from Manchester looked like one of the world's best forwards.
07:17In 2021, he was named Serie A's MVP, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
07:23For the first time, Lukaku wasn't mocked, he was adored.
07:26The fans loved him, his teammates trusted him, and he was finally delivering on the biggest stage.
07:31Inter's title win wasn't just a trophy.
07:34It was proof that Lukaku could be the man at the top club.
07:37So, when Chelsea came calling again, it felt like destiny.
07:41A chance to put things right where it all began in the big leagues.
07:44But instead, again, the fairy tale very quickly turned into another nightmare.
07:49£97 million.
07:52Chelsea's record signing.
07:53Lukaku was back at Stamford Bridge, not as a prospect, but as a Serie A champion.
07:58His debut against Arsenal, astonishingly good.
08:01It left fans thinking, this is it, Drogba's air has finally arrived.
08:05But within months, it all fell apart after the infamous Sky Italia interview.
08:09Lukaku admitted he wasn't happy, that he missed Inter, and he criticised Thomas Tuchel's change in tactics.
08:15It wasn't just bad PR, it destroyed the trust.
08:18The fans turned on him, the manager benched him, and suddenly a £97 million striker looked like a misfit all over again.
08:24And on the pitch, it just didn't click.
08:27Tuchel wanted fluid movement, false nine play.
08:30Lukaku wanted to run channels and be direct, like he'd done under Conte.
08:33By Christmas, he wasn't even first choice.
08:35By the summer, Chelsea had shipped him out just a year after smashing their transfer record.
08:40In a career full of ups, downs, goals and misses, that became the biggest what-if of it all.
08:45Now, the important thing is that after a poor choice in career move, and it's happened to a lot of players,
08:50that you don't make the same mistake twice.
08:52So you can see why there were some question marks about his decision to make yet another return,
08:56this time to Inter Milan, despite his previous success at the club.
09:00Inter welcomed him back, the fans, less so at first.
09:03But when he scored in the Coppa Italia and Champions League runs, the old connection returned.
09:08That'll forever be the bittersweet part of a relationship between football fans and star strikers.
09:13Even when you hate them, you know you'll be cheering their name as soon as they score.
09:17At this point, it may sound like a bit of a broken record, but yet again, the caveat to all of Lukaku's success and goal scoring,
09:25was that the big moments passed him by, and none more so than in the Champions League final in 2023.
09:32Man City with the opponents, a chance to get one over on an old English rival.
09:35One nil down with a few minutes to go, and chance after chance goes begging for Inter, especially Lukaku.
09:41But if this particular disappointing career theme was repeating itself over and over,
09:53you shouldn't be surprised that the theme of success came back around too.
09:58Following on from Inter Milan came a goal-scoring spree at Roma, Mourinho's Roma, no less,
10:03followed by another Serie A title, this time again under Antonio Conte, but in the blue of Napoli.
10:09England may have never felt like home, but in Italy, the system, the tactics, the culture, it all fits.
10:16Whatever else you say about Lukaku, in Serie A, he's always been unstoppable.
10:22For Belgium, however, at international level, there is no debate about Lukaku's career.
10:26He's their greatest ever goal scorer.
10:2989 goals as of September 2025, in just over 120 appearances.
10:34The all-time top goal scorer by a mile.
10:36For more than a decade, when Belgium have needed a goal, they've turned to him.
10:40And he delivers, more than anyone else ever has.
10:44So, who is Romelu Lukaku?
10:46To some, the striker with the dodgy first touch, who couldn't really adapt to any style other than Conte's.
10:51To others, he is one of the most consistent goal scorers of his era,
10:55and the ultimate definition of an absolute handful for defenders to deal with.
10:59The truth? He's probably both.
11:02And that is what makes his story so fascinating.
11:04More than 350 career goals, over 120 Premier League goals.
11:10More than Drogba, Van Persie, Cantona, Fowler.
11:12Massive names.
11:14A Scudetto winner.
11:15A Serie A MVP.
11:16Belgium's record scorer.
11:18That's the true measure of Lukaku's career, and always should be.
11:21He's been one of the defining strikers of his generation,
11:24and when he retires, the memes will fade, but the numbers won't.
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