Lukaku only has Everton on his mind
ROMELU LUKAKU has promised Everton fans he will not repeat the mistake of last season by allowing his focus to drift to a possible future away from Goodison.
The striker hinted he was guilty of letting his mind wander in the previous campaign as some of Europe’s biggest names cast their eye in his direction.
An outstanding display as Everton routed Bournemouth on Saturday will have sent alerts ringing all over Europe – and nowhere louder than at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge – but Lukaku says he is fully committed to Everton’s long-term project.
“I’m just focused on this period of time and I don’t want to look ahead too far,” he said. “That is the mistake I made last year. I was focusing already ahead and looking forward to things in front instead of the present.
“Now for me it is just game after game, day after day. Improve, come in, do my job and then go home to rest, work again on my body to recover and make sure that I can play the next game.”
‘World class’ is a phrase too loosely tossed around in football and, with respect to a side who put in a spirited second-half display, this was Bournemouth not Brazil.
But if a performance ever warranted the accolade, this was it.
Lukaku, still just 23, was on a higher level to almost everyone else on the pitch and to his four goals – a left-foot curling shot from distance after 30 seconds, quick feet for a balletic dink, a measured volley after a one-two, and a rampaging blast – he added one brilliant assist. It was the perfect performance by the Belgium striker and one that took him to the top of the Premier League scoring chart with 16.
Lukaku signed a fresh five-year deal in December worth £100,000 a week to become Everton’s most highly rewarded player. But the £80million buyout clause inserted was just as important if he maintains this form.
Everton are keeping up the challenge on the top six, with James McCarthy and Ross Barkley also on target, and Lukaku said: “We are really close and I have to deliver for my team.”
For Bournemouth this was a weird afternoon: one-nil down inside a minute, blown away by Lukaku and yet coming back into the game after the break thanks to two goals from Josh King and Harry Arter. Boss Eddie Howe seemed inclined to mark it down as an outlier.
“Lukaku produced a performance of the highest quality but things are just not going our way at the moment,” he said. “We need to be very strong mentally and come back from this.”
Howe’s side are six points above the drop zone and shipping too many goals – 34 in their last 13 games.