The time when a kid of 16 years and three months dazzled the evening of August 22, 2009 at the Arc-en-ciel stadium in Zulte-Waregem is already long gone. Ariel Jacobs decided to start the young Romelu in place of Kanu in the 69th. Twenty minutes later, he received a cross from Mbark Boussoufa which he deflected into the goal guarded by Sammy Bossut and went off to celebrate his very first professional goal by imitating the celebration of his Moroccan teammate.
There followed 14 more that season with Anderlecht before finally leaving the club two years later with forty-one on the clock. Let's head to England where his debut at Chelsea did not bring him the momentum he hoped for. It was his time on loan at West Brom (17 goals) which gave him the opportunity to take off before the explosion at Everton (87). And even if his next adventure at Manchester United (42) could have ended even better, it allowed him to then reach the peak of his career at Inter Milan (78). However, in the middle of these three Milan seasons a failed return to Chelsea (15 goals).
Even if he is currently still under contract with the Blues, the 30-year-old striker is recovering this season at AS Roma, with 19 goals scored, including the one at Udinese. A more than honorable total which allowed him to enter the top 30 of the most prolific club players in the 21st century. In turn, he has surpassed the marks of Thierry Henry (282 goals in this century, but he scored others before January 1, 2001), Carlos Tevez (291) or more recently Neymar (296). And here he is at 25th place in this ranking.
Falcao and Rooney in the viewfinder
The next on the list, Radamel Falcao (307 goals), is at the end of his career, but he is still capable of increasing his tally at Rayo Vallecano. Lukaku can then set the goal of catching up with other legends like Wayne Rooney (313) or David Villa (326). If he manages to stack up around twenty goals for another four or five seasons, he should even claim a place in the top 10, alongside Edinson Cavani (378) or Sergio Agüero (385), to perhaps reach… half of the records of the two extraterrestrials Lionel Messi (722) and Cristiano Ronaldo (757).
This will require good performances, particularly in the Europa League, a competition which is successful for him rather well since he is the third top scorer since 2009. And even if he did not score in the first leg against AC Milan (0-1), the Red Devil knows that the Rossoneri remain one of his favorite Italian victims: five goals in eight derbies played during his time as Inter.
