Flirting With Romelu

Belgiums teen football sensation Romelu Lukaku has already begun the process of causing greed and chaos to reign. As a postscript to the recent affair in which Wayne Rooney and his agent Paul Stretford held Manchester United to ransom, player power seems to be growing out of all proportion to talent and quality. Dubbed the new Didier Drogba, the young Belgian, having heard that his club have already accepted bids for his services from Chelsea and Manchester United, has made an astonishing come-and-get-me plea to Real Madrid in an interview published this morning in Marca which has shocked his English suitors.

Having said for years that hes a Chelsea fan and been seen at Stamford Bridge at least five times over four years since they tried to sign him as a 13-year-old, Lukaku had his photograph taken last week in both Manchester and Chelsea shirts. Indeed, on Monday, his father, former pro Roger Lukaku, spent a large part of the day negotiating on the phone with David Gill.

Naturally, Arsenal and Manchester City are also keen on the beefy, 6 ft 3 in warrior striker, but his gushing praise of Real, their coach Jose Mourinho and star player Cristiano Ronaldo has left the Spaniards in no doubt as to where he wants to play next season. Of course, the notion of Arsene Wenger coughing up a furball the size of London before spending that kind of dosh is worth a laugh. And the idea of City having Lukaku join the ultimate prima donna strike force which is already in place featuring Tevez, Adebayor and Balotelli is equally amusing.

Id love to play at the Bernabeu, he told Marca. It would be great to learn from Jose Mourinho. Playing next to Cristiano Ronaldo would be fantastic.

It is applaudable that Lukaku refused to contemplate a move while he finished his school studies in Belgium, happy to just flirt on the phone as he put it , with silver-tongued callers l! ike Patr ice Evra, Florent Malouda and Drogba.

Yet with Anderlecht only being offered approximately 15M by Real Madrid, things turn ever more complicated. Indeed, although Mourinho is looking world wide for a physically imposing experienced center forward to replace the exciting but injured Argentine Gonzalo Higuain, one wonders if the raw talent of Lukaku is what they need. Looks like our old friend Don Florentino is playing his daft mind games again.

With the Gaffers darling Karim Benzema not measuring up after Los Galacticos forked over 32M to acquire his services from Olympique Lyonnais, Higuain out injured until next season and the 65M Brazilian midfielder Kaka unable to force his way onto the team, Real Madrid have at least 130Ms worth of talent twiddling their collective thumbs on the bench.

Mourinhos clear first choice is definitely Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao who will probably run about 45M. Thus any ultimate decision belongs with the club President Florentino Perz. Having undergone a massive 5-1 humiliation at the hands of the clubs eternal rival Barcelona, Perz wants revenge yesterday, now, tomorrow and forever. That so callow a youth may not fit in with Perezs desperate need for instant gratification is obvious. That he would try to irritate United and Chelsea by winning as lowest bidder is also clearly a case of the man acting in character.

Along with other brilliant youngsters like Steven DeFour, Axel Witsel and Eden Hazard, Lukaku is already a regular for his country. Meanwhile, Anderlecht are top of the league and the 270 Ib prospect would clearly be an after word, at least temporarily, at the Bernabeu. Perhaps then, the boys dad is just flirting like a mink in heat because he senses the bottom of the market may drop out at any moment.

A little clarity would help, right? I know my dad will make the ri! ght pick for me, he told Marca. I really admire Sir Alex Ferguson and how he made a better player out of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Romelu and his little brother Jordan have been the focus for more than five years of the Flemish reality show De School van Lukaku. His obsession, according to a number of regular watchers Ive talked to is with making more guaranteed money than Wayne Rooney. Im bigger. Im better looking and I dont have a wife, he said.

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