Romelu Lukaku revealed that his record move to Manchester United was inspired by Paul Pogba’s arrival at Old Trafford as he began training with the Premier League giants in Los Angeles on Monday.
A relaxed-looking Lukaku signed autographs for fans and posed for photographs at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Drake Stadium, where United are training this week as their five-match pre-season US tour gets under way.
Lukaku, 24, joined up with the United squad just hours after his reported ￡75 million (US$96.7 million) transfer from Everton was officially completed. The five-year deal — which is to see Lukaku pocket more than ￡200,000 per week — is a record transfer between two English clubs.
The Belgian international striker quickly got into the groove, taking part in passing drills with French star Pogba and other teammates in blazing sunshine at the facility near Beverly Hills.
In his first interview since becoming a United player, Lukaku told the club’s TV channel MUTV that his decision to seek a move to Old Trafford had come after seeing Pogba join the club last year.
Pogba and Lukaku, who share the same agent, are close friends and were last week on vacation together in Beverly Hills before the deal was completed.
Lukaku, who could make his debut in Saturday’s tour opener against the Los Angeles Galaxy, told MUTV that Pogba had played a “big role” in his transfer.
“He is one of my best friends and he is my neighbor as well,” Lukaku said. “We are always together on a daily basis, so he would explain to me how things were going. Last season when he signed for United, to have witnessed that, it really triggered something in my brain and I knew that if one day I had the chance to sign then I would not say no.”
“You just know and realize how big the club is, and the hunger it has to win trophies. I would like to say, at the end of my career, that I played for a team that has always challenged for trophies and this is what the club has always done,” Lukaku said. “To be here now is a blessing and I will not take this opportunity for granted.”
Lukaku’s transfer reunites him with Jose Mourinho, who famously sold the striker to Everton in 2014 during his second spell in charge of Chelsea.
The two men engaged in an often spiky war of words following Lukaku’s move to Everton, with Mourinho questioning the striker’s “mentality” and motivation to be successful at Stamford Bridge.
However, on Monday, as Mourinho declared Lukaku a “natural fit” for United, the striker said he was looking forward to working with the Portuguese manager once more, insisting the two had a solid relationship.
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