West Ham United and Everton both reportedly held a serious interest in signing Jordan Lukaku this summer.
West Ham fans may be a little less optimistic about their summer business right now after suffering two defeats to kick off the new Premier League season, but it appears that the Irons may have made one very smart call this summer at the very least.
Anderson would arrive at the London Stadium, but Lukaku did not follow him.
Meanwhile, Italian newspaper Cittaceleste reported in July that Everton made an £8 million bid for the full-back, who is the brother of former Toffees striker Romelu. Once again however, Lukaku did not seal his move to the Premier League.
And it appears that both West Ham and Everton can now reflect that they may have had a lucky escape in not signing the 24-year-old, as Belgian outlet DH is reporting that Lukaku has been left out of Lazio’s Serie A squad for the first-half of the campaign.
The report suggests that a knee injury has been plaguing the defender for several months and the club have now decided to leave him out of their 25-man squad in the top flight while he continues to get treatment, meaning that he will not eligible to play for the Biancocelesti in domestic games until January at the earliest.
It appears unlikely that West Ham and Everton would have signed him anyway had they known the full extent of the problem, but perhaps they may have just been tempted to take a gamble had discussions reached an advanced stage having already entered talks and, in Everton’s case, made bids while the injury was already an issue for the player.
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