Koeman caused a fuss when appearing to claim that Lukaku would benefit from leaving Goodison Park.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman has attempted to clarify his contentious claims that star striker Romelu Lukaku needed to leave Goodison Park in order to fulfil his potential, as reported by The Guardian.
The Dutchman caused a stir earlier this month after he suggested that the Belgian striker, who handed in a transfer request this summer, would soon outgrow the Merseyside club and would be unable to become one of the world’s best strikers if he decided to stay for the majority of his career.
This prompted Everton’s majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri, to point out that Koeman had been misinterpreted and that the former Southampton manager was merely stating that Lukaku would one day be of the level required to play for one of Europe’s most illustrious clubs.
And Koeman has now attempted to draw a line under the issue, although admitting that Everton, who finished a disappointing 11th last season, need to start making clear progress if they are to hang on to their best players.
“What we like to show Romelu is that Everton will grow, we will be bigger and we will fight for titles,” Koeman said, as reported by The Guardian. “If you look now at Everton, and if Everton stays at this level, then of course it is not good that he finishes his career at Everton because he is one of the best strikers and he is still only 23.”
“If he stays for more years that is not bad for his career, he is improving and learning and he is one of the better strikers that we have in the Premier League and in Europe.
“Of course there is a lot of interest in the player and finally the player needs to make a decision and a club needs to make a decision to accept – yes or no – but what I tried to do is keep Romelu for as long as possible at the club.”
Koeman added that Lukaku eventually agreed to remain with Everton this summer because of the club’s desire to improve after stagnating under Roberto Martinez.
Furthermore, with Moshiri promising unprecedented riches to help the club compete for more ambitious targets in the transfer market, The Toffees now appear well placed to push for Europe in the coming seasons after years making-do-and-mending on a shoestring budget.
However, humiliations akin to the 5-0 battering against Chelsea, and their failure to snap up the likes of Moussa Sissoko, Lucas Perez and Axel Witsel in the summer, suggests Everton have a long way to go before they can conceivably harbour hopes of earning entry to the elite.
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