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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho doubts that Romelu Lukaku can match Wayne Rooney record

Rooney became United's all-time leading top-scorer with 253 goals earlier this year

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Friday 15 September 2017 22:31 BST
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The forward has made a strong start to life at United
The forward has made a strong start to life at United

Jose Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, believes that Romelu Lukaku will struggle to emulate the goal-scoring feats of Wayne Rooney, despite his promising start since arriving from Everton.

Lukaku has scored six goals in his first six United appearances – a better start than the likes of Denis Law, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rooney – and the Belgian will feature against his former club for the first time when the two meet at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

Rooney, meanwhile, is expected to line up on the other side, having ended his 13-year-stay at United this summer after surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton to become the club’s all-time record goalscorer with 253 goals.

Though Lukaku has hit the ground running, Mourinho believes it will be difficult for the 24-year-old to topple Rooney’s record, and not only because he is five years older than Rooney was upon arrival in 2004.

“I think Wayne spent probably 10 years of his career in a different Premier League than you have now, a Premier League where it was easier to score goals,” Mourinho said at his pre-match press conference on Friday, previewing Everton’s visit.

“Not just because of the difference between the top teams and others, but also because of the profile and the tactical interpretation of the competition. I think this Premier League is much more defensive-minded, and much more difficult.”


Even if he is unlikely to surpass Rooney’s goal-scoring record, Lukaku could at least rival his predecessor in terms of honours and he will be central to any title challenge that United offer this season.

Mourinho is aware of the potential that Lukaku's firepower brings, but he also believes that United have shown an all-round improvement on last season when his side failed to challenge at the top of the Premier League and eventually finished sixth.

“It’s not just about the striker,” he said. “A striker is very important but last season we had a very good striker [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] for two thirds of the season and that was not enough to win the title. So it’s not just the striker.

“I think that Romelu has a better team than Zlatan had. Romelu’s team plays different football and the confidence levels are different and it is a team in the second year of its evolution in some aspects.

“But I think he also deserves credit for that because of the way he plays, the way he is committed, what he does with and without the ball, not just the last touch and the goal but his overall contribution. We couldn’t be happier.”

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