Romelu Lukaku, a Belgian player who now plays for the English team Manchester United FC, has been a key player for both Belgium and United since joining Manchester United FC in 2017. After growing into a prolific striker, he was invited to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. You can find out all about him here.
Romelu Lukaku’s Biography, Age
The striker was born on 13 May 1993 in the Belgian city of Antwerp. Here he was raised both by his father, who was a football player and by his mother.
His father originally came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He made it as a football player, but his family had to make ends meet later on due to poverty.
As he grew up, his parents expected young Lukaku to read his books more than play football. However, his interest in the sport was too great for him not only to watch and follow as many English Premier League games as possible but also to play alone.
The video game he played was also football. Soon his parents, who had previously refused to let him play football, allowed him and his brother to continue.
Family and Girlfriend
As mentioned above, Romelu Lukaku was born into a football family as a father. Roger Lukaku was also a footballer and played in the national team of Zaire as well as for a number of clubs such as KV Mechelen and Oostende, where he last played in 1999.
He is very close to his mother, Adolphine Lukaku, and she has been instrumental in all his moves to various clubs.
The Belgian star also has a younger brother who is also a footballer and his name is Jordan Lukaku. Born on 25 July 1994, the younger Lukaku plays for both the Belgian national team and Italian club Lazio as a left-back. Like his older brother, Jordan Lukaku is on Belgium’s provisional list before the World Cup in Russia.
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Lukaku has been in a number of relationships, although he is not yet married. The first woman with whom the former Everton striker became publicly known was Julia Vandeweghe. The last time the two were known to be together was in 2015.
Apart from the fact that Julia Vandeweghe is a former model who has a good presence in social media, not much is known about her. The next woman Romelu Lukaku would date was Sarah Men’s, and they are still together. The first time they were connected was in 2017.
Romelu Lukaku Club Football Career
As for his youth club career, Lukaku began with Rupel Boom when he was just six years old. He stayed there until 2003 when he transferred to KFC Wintam, where he stayed for a year before moving to Lierse for another two years. When he finished, he moved to Anderlecht.
In 2009, he moved up to the senior side of Anderlecht, where he played for two seasons before being called up by the English team Chelsea.
He remained with the English club from 2011 to 2014, but most of the time he was loaned to West Bromwich Albion and Everton, who decided to make the contract permanent in 2014. By the time he left the club in 2017, he had already scored 53 goals in 110 appearances for the club. He was also the first Everton player since the club’s legendary Dixie Dean to score 25 goals in two consecutive seasons.
He joined Manchester United F.C. in 2017 after rejecting a bid from Chelsea. By the end of the 2017/2018 season, Romelu Lukaku had already scored 16 goals for the Red Devils after 34 games.
His time in the English league has earned him a number of awards, including PFA Team of the Year for the 2016/2017 season and Everton Player of the Season in the same season.
Romelu Lukaku National Football Career
Looking ahead to his national career, the Belgian striker wore the country’s jersey for the first time in 2008 as a player under 15. In 2011 he played at the under-18 level and then in 2009 at the under-21 level.
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The Manchester United striker was given the opportunity to play for the Belgian senior national team in 2010. Before he was called to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Lukaku had already won the Belgian national colors 66 times, and he has seen the back of the net 33 times. In the process, he became Belgium’s all-time record scorer for the Belgian Red Devils, although he only scored 28 goals before the FIFA World Cup.
At the tournament in Russia, Lukaku scored four goals and helped the Red Devils win the bronze medal. He was one of the best strikers at the event, playing in 6 out of 7 matches for the team that only lost a game against France in the semi-finals.
Height, Weight, and Body Stats
Lukaku has often been compared to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba for his strength and footballing style. As a striker, he has always exploited his size and stature as well as his speed to score goals. With his athletic stature, the Belgian star is 1.90 m (6 feet) tall (2′) and weighs 100.2 kg (221 lbs).
He is one of the fittest football players out there, his other body statistics measure like this:
- Chest: 45½ in (116 cm)
- Arms/Biceps: 15½ in (39½ cm)
- Waist: 33 in (84 cm).
