Can Romelu Lukaku become a world class striker?

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Romelu Lukaku’s free kick showcased yet another of the Belgian’s growing repertoire of talents. Can he develop into a ‘world class’ striker?

A helpless Steve Mandanda could only watch as Romelu Lukaku curled a free kick perfectly into the top corner of his goal. The Eagles replied in the second half through their own Belgian striker, Christian Benteke, but the two have endured vastly differing fortunes in the last 12 months or so.

The two lined up for the red and blue halves of Merseyside last season, and Lukaku enjoyed arguably the best run of form in his career so far, while Benteke endured arguably the worst form of his.

Benteke has since left Liverpool for Crystal Palace, but Lukaku has stayed with the Toffees despite widespread speculation linking him with a move elsewhere.

The former Chelsea man threatened to win the Premier League Golden Boot last season with a fantastic seven-month spell, but fell short as his form dipped slightly towards the end of the season.

He finished the season in third with 18 goals to his name, ahead of the oft-injured Sergio Aguero (17), but just behind Jamie Vardy (19) and Harry Kane (22).

At just 23 years of age, Lukaku has already accumulated 155 Premier League appearances with three clubs (Chelsea, West Brom, Everton), and has scored 65 Premier League goals to date. That is huge experience for one so young.

At present, most would argue that Lukaku ranks perhaps one or two tiers below the continent’s most potent strikers, the likes of Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero, and others of that ilk.

But he is definitely in the conversation to be considered the best striker in England’s top flight. He’s not there yet, but if he keeps adding to his skill-set, and performs like he did for so much of last season, he could well win the Golden Boot and help Everton to a strong season.

When he arrived at Chelsea as a raw prospect, many thought of him as the successor to Didier Drogba. But upon loaning him out to West Brom, it was clear that his style of play was a little different.

His game was initially very much about power and athleticism, running the channels. Then, under Roberto Martinez, he was given attacking freedom in the Spaniard’s first season, roaming around the opposition box. But in his second season at Everton, he was told to play more of a target man role, staying more central and closer to the goal.

All these things have improved Lukaku’s understanding of how to be the complete centre-forward. The free kick he scored against Palace was yet more evidence of his growing skill-set.

If he can achieve consistency, and gain the capacity to create goals for himself to avoid being marked out of the game, Lukaku could certainly become a world class striker.