Romelu Lukaku made headlines when he signed for Manchester United for a fee of around £ 70 million, which could rise to up to £ 90 million. He also had an excellent start to his career at Old Trafford after managing several goals in his first few matches. Of late, however, the Belgian international has struggled for goals and has only come up with four in the last 19 matches. He was also criticised for his performances in the games against Manchester City. Jose Mourinho has completely defended his player during this course of form, and his latest explanation is that the striker is tired after having been involved in a lot of matches.
Lukaku has played 1800 minutes of action so far in the Premier league. This is in line with most of the goalkeepers in the league, and it tops the list for most of the outfield players in the lineup. While acknowledging the fact that Lukaku has already played in a lot of games, Mourinho has admitted that he cannot afford to rest of the 24-year-old due to the list of important games coming up for the team. United are already finding themselves 15 points adrift of Manchester City and cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to at least think about winning the league title. Further, there is the pressure from the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool behind them.
“He has played 90 minutes for 20 matches in the Premier League. For any player that is absolutely incredible, but if you are a central defender or holding midfielder, certain positions where you can control your energy or positional play a bit more, you can resist, survive. He needs a little rest. Has he been unlucky in our box in recent matches? He was in the picture – I’m not saying he was a direct influence – for some of the goals we conceded,” said Jose Mourinho.
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