Seasons » 2015-16 » Everton News
Lukaku balancing ambition with loyalty


The Belgian says that his immediate priority is on helping Everton finish the season as strongly as possible in the Premier League, securing a second trip to Wembley in May and then, hopefully, firing the Blues to Cup glory.
He has made no secret of his desire for Champions League football in the past and he hints at that particular itch that he wants to scratch when he points out that he has been playing top-level football for almost seven years without featuring in Europe's elite competition.
With Everton's prospects of getting him there on hold again until next season, Lukaku's future will be he subject of much speculation in the media this summer and hand-wringing among Evertonians who fear that this season's under-achievement will see the best striker they've had in a generation leave for pastures new.
The striker insists that he isn't thinking about that at the moment and will leave the negotiating to his agent, Milo Raiola, but he also admits that he won't force through a move and leave on ugly terms with the club who gave him the chance to resurrect his career when Jose Mourinho didn't have faith in his ability to make an impact at Chelsea.
“I am 23 this summer," Lukaku says in the press. "I have been playing since I was 16 and never had a taste of the Champions League. It is going to be seven years. You think about it. If it is going to happen, it is going to happen.
“Champions League football is really the next step, but I am not really thinking about it, because there are 10 games to go and we have something great to achieve in the FA Cup.
“In the league, if we give the maximum in the next ten games, we will see from there.
“We can turn it around and I will do everything to take my team forward to glory.”
“If something happens [in the summer] it will be for the good of the club. I don’t want to leave in a fight, if it happens.
“I won’t say this or that. It is going to be good for me personally and for the club. They were the ones who believed in me at the time nobody believed in me, and gave me a platform to perform.
“I have tried to repay them by doing good performances, but I have an agent who deals with the interest. I do not want to be bothered with it. I just want to play my football.
“Well, then you have to talk. But the talk will be between me and the manager. We have an open relationship. I will be honest enough with him to say what I think.”
Lukaku is fairly frank when it comes to assessing Everton's form over the past two years which he clearly views as falling short of the talent that Roberto Martinez has at his disposal.
He betrays some disappointment that the Blues haven't been able to fulfill the rich potential of the club's best squad since the 1980s. He also admits that the Chelsea result was a big one in the context of the current campaign.
“With all the qualities that we have, we should at least have been in the top four this year because of how the league is,” the 22-year-old continues.
“We should have been in the top four. It was meant to be. I am always looking for more. The club thinks that way as well.
"I look around the dressing room and wonder how the hell are we in this position? The simple games we need to win – we draw or we lose. The difficult games we need to win – we win. Where’s the logic in that?
“[Last Saturday's] win has changed a lot of things here,” he insists. “If we had lost to Chelsea as well as West Ham the week before I think you would have had the fans down here at the training ground.
"It took me until the Wednesday to forget about the West Ham game. It was days and days of thinking: ‘How? How? How?’ Even with 10 men, if you are 2-0 up at home you should always win the game."
“As a player you always want the best and you see how we have performed sometimes and yet you go home scratching your head thinking: ‘How did that happen?'
“It has been two years of under-performing. As bad as it sounds, it is the truth. Look at the players we have.
"We need to start winning games because we cannot continue like we are now. Everyone gives stick to the manager but it is the players who do the job on the pitch.”
Reader Comments (54)
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2 Posted 18/03/2016 at 23:41:53
3 Posted 18/03/2016 at 23:51:31
Says it all. Can't blame the boy if he thinks we're holding him back. He's speaking the truth. Very worrying
5 Posted 19/03/2016 at 01:34:15
6 Posted 19/03/2016 at 02:11:25
"It has been two years of under-performing. As bad as it sounds, it is the truth. Look at the players we have.'"
That's a pretty bad indictment on Martinez. Geri and Barry have come out and said something similar recently too. Dressing room turning against him?
7 Posted 19/03/2016 at 03:58:20
8 Posted 19/03/2016 at 04:06:35
Everton will profit commercially from his departure if we do not make Europe, I suspect the lure of some of the elite Spanish or Italian clubs and lifestyle will be too much to resist as his star is shining brightly this season. If we win the cup he may stay, if not... sadly reality bites.
9 Posted 19/03/2016 at 04:16:41
He'd be first choice for Man Utd and Arsenal. And Chelsea and Man City wouldn't have minded having him. That makes him good enough for the Champions League in my book.
10 Posted 19/03/2016 at 04:27:05
I hope we can keep him... but if I were him I'd probably think of doing a runner while Martinez is in charge.
I hope Moshiri pulls some of these lads aside in the next few weeks and tells them his plans over the next few years. We are a club looking upward... not a Martinez vanity project.
11 Posted 19/03/2016 at 04:51:39
It's the only thing I agree with RM on (I loathe the man), he said he would pay £100m for Rom and yes, so would I. Talk of a £50m price tag is a joke. The new TV money will push prices up so let's talk £80m plus please! He's worth every penny. Just pity RM wasn't good enough to get us into the Champions League, then he would've stayed.
Whatever you do, Rom, I wish you all the best, that clown of a manger just couldn't defend the leads that you gave us.
12 Posted 19/03/2016 at 05:39:19
13 Posted 19/03/2016 at 05:58:17
14 Posted 19/03/2016 at 06:24:31
I fear we lost a great opportunity this season which will haunt us for years to come.
15 Posted 19/03/2016 at 06:33:27
Martinez is at fault and, as Darren says in another post, the twat has ruined John Stones.
As fans, we should hound Martinez out of our club, not sit by hoping things will get better.
16 Posted 19/03/2016 at 06:58:22
We can't match his ambition because of our shit showing.
Plato - no money will guarantee he stays.
17 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:00:29
If he wants Champions League then I think he owes us till at least January of next season given the new owner and the money we may have to spend in the Summer. Unfortunately though, given Bill's gushing "What a manager" quote after the Chelsea game, it will be under the stewardship of our inept manager, which almost certainly means we will under-achieve next season as well.
18 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:08:58
Anything but will be more of the same with the same results and then the inevitable will happen.
19 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:14:54
Or maybe we'll win the cup and they'll stick around for like longer.
20 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:21:22
SIMPLE!
21 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:38:04
22 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:49:56
He's a cracking finisher and can't afford to waste his time with a mid table club when he could get £150k a week whilst challenging for honours.
23 Posted 19/03/2016 at 07:54:13
24 Posted 19/03/2016 at 08:25:51
That said, he does have a contract but we know players move on, and I think out of respect for the club he will only move out of the Premier League, with PSG being the main suitors. I don't think throwing big money at players to keep them works, as they get paid so much in becomes meaningless.
When you retire, you need to sit back, reflect and look at your memories and trophies. If we can't provide, then some other club will have to. Good luck, Rom.
25 Posted 19/03/2016 at 08:40:53
26 Posted 19/03/2016 at 08:46:47
With 1 home win from 8 in the league since November it's hardly a surprise. Most of the losses from winning positions. It must be soul destroying.
27 Posted 19/03/2016 at 08:56:58
The sooner he's gone, the better.
28 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:00:35
It's a huge risk signing lad's straight from overseas league's unless you are getting a Robert Lewandowski or Thomas Muller, someone of that ilk.
I'm not convinced Niasse will be much more than a fitter younger version of Kone, I know he's hardly played but you can usually tell a player from his instant control and movement.
But we already knew, these days £13 million only gets you 8-10 goal a season striker's.
The very best cost the most. Are we prepared to pay for the very very best?? If not, then I'd question the ambition levels.
29 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:02:38
Martinez has rightly been criticised the last two seasons, but these 'negative statements' are exactly what I would expect from underachieving players. For me, it's a sign that they realise they've missed an opportunity. At least they've got another one next month!
30 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:19:41
Maybe, hopefully, the promise linked to the new investment can persuade him to stick around for another season, but Martinez's comments recently smack of an agreement already made that he can go in the summer if we didn't make the Champions League this season.
31 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:40:45
All season I've cited Martinez as a buffoon, at best. I can only imagine the feelings of the players at Finch Farm every day, where it's obvious nowt's ever done differently despite the bleedin' obvious in terms of repetitive failure (and re the cups this season, we've only beaten one so-called top team, who are having their own worst season in living memory by the way).
I just hope Mr Moshiri has realised that money can buy you competence though, as a minimum, and that there's precious little of that as far as Martinez is concerned.
32 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:46:12
I do.
If it's a Martinez or Lukaku choice... there can only be one winner can't there?
34 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:53:37
35 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:55:04
I believe he'd love to have the success he craves with Everton. I also believe he doubts whether he will. Up to the new "owner" to convince him otherwise.
36 Posted 19/03/2016 at 09:57:04
37 Posted 19/03/2016 at 10:00:48
Semi-final or no semi-final, the tide has turned against Martinez.
39 Posted 19/03/2016 at 10:17:01
I have a sneaky feeling that PSG see him as their replacement for Ibrahimovich and would think £80M would clinch the deal. Good business by OPM whose 'only' problem will be the impossibility of replacing him.
Of course, if Martinez could revolutionise his defensive record, he wouldn't need to replace ALL Rom's goals!
41 Posted 19/03/2016 at 11:08:39
43 Posted 19/03/2016 at 11:14:58
44 Posted 19/03/2016 at 11:15:46
45 Posted 19/03/2016 at 11:18:05
You can't fault the lad for his ambition; he has total belief in himself and that should be applauded. What is obvious now, is that Everton need to match that ambition and show him we want to go where he wants to go the top.
So, Mr Moshiri needs to get the top young players together (Lukaku, Stones, Barkley, McCarthy) and tell them what and how big his plans are and pay them accordingly to keep them with us. Then he needs to bring in like-minded players who will push this club forward. He has the money so let's use it!
If that can be achieved with our current manager, then great; if not, then that is the position that will need looking at next.
My choice for manager would be the same as it was when Moyes left Vitor Pereira.
46 Posted 19/03/2016 at 11:30:03
49 Posted 19/03/2016 at 12:07:07
If you look back at the goals we have conceded, most have simply been poor defending, who in our defence would you call a very good defender?
Baines and Coleman? No. Jags... on the ground? Yes. In the air... No. Our wonderboy Stones? Ditto. Funes Mori probably the best of a moderate lot on crosses; the midfielders are again poor when the ball's in the air.
50 Posted 19/03/2016 at 12:09:03
51 Posted 19/03/2016 at 12:10:39
If PSG want him to replace Ibrahimovic why don't we swap the two? Ibra has itching to try the Premier League and we could offer him European football and a big wage (if we win the FA Cup).
If the above happens, I'll be first in the queue to get a replica shirt with Zlatan's name on. And then put the numbers on the lottery. :-)
54 Posted 19/03/2016 at 15:06:24
55 Posted 19/03/2016 at 16:28:55
Lukaku in a Champions League team will excel. Champions League teams have the hunger, fight, and bollock those players who are not putting in a shift. Who do we have to do that?
That's what we lack, leaders. I am sick to effing hell with fans and players saying we should be a top-six side. The Premier League table dosen't lie. We have lost the hunger since Moyes has gone. He demanded fight and a work ethic, it makes top teams.
Lukaku will leave and who can blame him. His dreams will not be achieved under Martinez.
56 Posted 19/03/2016 at 18:29:09
57 Posted 19/03/2016 at 18:40:01
58 Posted 19/03/2016 at 20:51:55
I'd have the lot of them in for training tomorrow after that today.
59 Posted 20/03/2016 at 01:36:50
60 Posted 20/03/2016 at 19:43:01
61 Posted 20/03/2016 at 23:49:33
He is a world class centre-forward and they are at a premium.
To keep Rom without Champions League football we would have to show some crazy ambition in the transfer window and fuck Martinez off.
62 Posted 21/03/2016 at 11:07:33
63 Posted 21/03/2016 at 11:17:28
I don't think Moshiri is here to run the football Kenwright will still do that!
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1 Posted 18/03/2016 at 23:16:03