When Manchester United confirmed Romelu Lukaku had left the club to join Serie A giants Inter, there was certainly a sense of outrage and frustration from the club’s fans at the decision.
The Belgium international may have had a difficult final campaign at the club with just 15 goals in 45 games across all competitions, but there can be no doubting that he represented a centre-forward who had plundered goals on a regular basis at Premier League level – he has a record of 113 goals in 252 matches in the top-flight.
So for the Red Devils to let him go, and then even more shockingly, not sign a replacement before the end of the transfer window, was eye-brow raising to say the least.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer placed his trust in the club’s young forward line of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, but a difficult start to the campaign which saw them win just two out of their opening nine Premier League games appeared to suggest they were missing Lukaku big time.
But over these past couple of months, Martial in particular has stepped up his game, which has been absolutely vital for the club considering Rashford’s lengthy lay-off. The Frenchman has stepped up to the plate and embraced the role of being the side’s starting number nine, and as Roy Keane himself recently suggested, the arrival of Odion Ighalo also appears to have sparked a “reaction” in him.
In 34 games across all competitions, Martial has scored 16 times and provided a further five assists, and perhaps most encouragingly for the Red Devils, he has performed consistently on the biggest of occasions.
He found the back of the net in each of United’s Premier League victories over noisy neighbours Manchester City, whilst also netting in both clashes against Chelsea in the top-flight. The France international’s performances have ensured that the club are finally beginning to banish those painful early memories of Lukaku’s exit, and has vindicated Solskjaer’s major gamble of not signing a replacement.
The £54m-rated star has been a key cog up front, and now it’s a case of ‘Lukaku who?’.
Meanwhile, Man Utd must sell this ace this summer.
