For quite some years, the Toffees had failed to lighten up the Goodison Park, implying that the thrilling atmosphere was dying a slow death; but there has been a complete turnaround in their stature, a head-over-heels kind of transformation, to ensure that the palpable and galvanising habitat at the Merseyside is restored.
In Koeman’s perfect project, the most vital cog has been his trusted commander-in-chief, Romelu Lukaku. The gunman has been in red-hot form, banging goals left, right and centre, bagging assists, destroying the opponents’ defence and has cemented himself as an irreplaceable linchpin up front. His statistics of 16 goals from 24 appearances, alongside 4 assists and 33 chances creation has appealed to many hungry clubs revolving around the top flights of various countries and apparently, Serie A mega-club, AC Milan, are reported to be heavily involved in trying to chalk out a move for the striker in the summer as they in the dire need of a proven goal scorer.
The Rossoneri are believed to be targeting the next transfer window as the one where they will be overseeing a massive overhaul. They are supposedly in possession of whopping war-chest of £140 million which will be used to rediscover their lost glory. Their stature has been hit hard by their woes on and off the pitch and are thus clamouring to stay relevant in the scheme of things.
With a game in hand, Vincenzo Montella’s outfit are 11 points adrift of the nearest Champions League spot and finding the back of the net has been a major concern. So, indeed they go out all guns blazing to sign Lukaku, but what should be Everton’s perspective on this one?
The big Belgian is a wanted commodity at the Goodison Park and it is of paramount importance for Koeman’s revolution to keep hold of him. The youngster has already accumulated truckloads of experience whilst plying his trade in the top flight of English football and has all the ingredients of a phenomenon striker in him: he is a tall lad and possesses aerial threat, is one of the most clinical finishers, can hold the ball in the final third, has a decent pace to outrun the defenders and creates enough chances as well.
Frankly speaking, owing to the dearth of proven attackers in the continent or elsewhere, finding an immediate upgrade over him would be next to impossible when they must be fighting for Champions League places next term and thus, despite two-and-a-half-year left in his contract, Everton’s board shouldn’t allow AC Milan to lure him to San Siro in the summer by handing him an improved contract.
Statistics Credits: Squawka.
