Was it a mistake for United to let him go?
Romelu Lukaku has become the first player to score 30 goals in one season for Inter Milan since the 2010/11 season, when Samuel Eto’o achieved the feat.
Romelu Lukaku is the first Inter Milan player to score 30+ goals in a season since Samuel Eto'o in 2010-11 🤩 pic.twitter.com/RAT6EVW87B
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 5, 2020
It’s been a season to remember for Lukaku, who hit the ground running in Italy and helped Inter to a second placed finish, just one point behind champions Juventus.
The Belgian striker was sold by United despite him registering decent numbers during his two years at the club, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer preferring strikers in the mould of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, who starts through the middle.
But neither of the aforementioned United players scored as many goals as Lukaku this season. Martial scored 23 goals in all competitions, seven fewer than Lukaku, with 17 of them coming in the league to Lukaku’s 23.
Now, it should be noted that Inter rely on Lukaku to score a bigger proportion of their goals – he scored 28 per cent of their Serie A goals this season, while Martial’s 17 in the Premier League made up 25 per cent of United’s.
But Lukaku’s hot form this season does beg the question: should United have got more out of him?
The key reason behind his drastically improved form at Old Trafford and his form in Italy is likely to be a dietary change. When he left United, he was too bulky and it had been affecting his game. This was because United and Lukaku had both failed to realise that his digestive system had been malfunctioning.
After Inter made tweaks to his eating plan, he lost half a stone in 12 days.
A very simple but effective change which has worked wonders for Antonio Conte’s Inter side. United have looked exciting in attack at times this season and are set to strengthen their forward line with Jadon Sancho. But they are surely rueing the missed opportunity to get the best out of such a lethal striker.
