Romelu Lukaku Proves His £65 Million Everton Valuation Is Unrealistic

BY EWAH CHIKA

"I'm at a point where I have to make a good career choice.

"We have a new investor at Everton and out of courtesy I will listen to what he has to say. But I have my own ideas in mind. I want to win titles . I have a very good season, but it is time for me to write myself a CV. That is why I play football. I got that trophy-winning mindset from Chelsea," were the words of Belgium and Everton forward Romelu Lukaku a few weeks before the Euros.

While Lukaku's desire and hunger for trophies cannot be doubted, the same cannot be said about his ability to deliver in big games . Lukaku ended last season with 25 goals in all competitions for Everton even as the team had a disappointing season which ended with the sacking of Spanish manager Roberto Martinez.

Last night against Italy, Lukaku was expected to make a bold statement to the world and stake his claim for a big money transfer in the summer which unfortunately wasn't the case. Against one of the weakest Italian team in history in terms of big names, Lukaku and his team mates went missing and couldn't contain the firepower of the Italians who ended the game with a 2-0 win. Though it might be unfair to single out the former Chelsea player for criticism as the likes of Eden Hazard, Kelvin De Bruyne and Maroune Fellaini were all guilty of the same thing. The case of Lukaku is worse in the sense that he had a golden opportunity to restore parity in the second half in which  he missed a one on one with Luigi Buffon.

It is bizarre that the forward did not win any aerial duel while his counterpart Graziano Pelle of Italy contested 8 aerial duels winning 5. Lukaku on the night was so anonymous that he did not attempt any take-on. As if that wasn't enough the forward did not attempt to create any chance, cross or even manage any shot on target in a game he played 73 minutes before making way for Liverpool's Divork Origi later on.

Such was the Belgian's contribution that the likes of Dries Mertens , Origi, and Yannick Carrasco appeared to contribute more in their less than 30 minutes in the game more than his (Lukaku) 73 minutes in the game.

This is not the first major tournament the player has failed to shine as this was the case in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014, where he flopped in the first game against Algeria before scoring and assisting in the third and second games. At 23, Lukaku still has a lot to learn in the game but considering he is valued at over £65 million by Everton who signed him for £28 million in 2014 shows exactly how inflated and misleading the transfer window is. Lukaku is a beast on his day and a rare type of the typical No.9 but surely the forward will have to consistently perform on the world stage to be classified as one worthy of a £65 million transfer .

If players are solely signed based on their performances in major tournaments with their league form irrelevant then the case of Romelu Lukaku might be one of the worst deals to be done.

One thing is for sure though, Romelu Lukaku is one player far better than his peers and one that is likely to go down history as a Great but to get there, the player has to prove his big game abilities consistently .