Jose Mourinho has bought Romelu Lukaku to be his powerful penalty-box poacher… and here's why Manchester United supporters can expect to see more crosses than ever next season

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Manchester United managed 15 draws last season - their most ever in the Premier League - and Jose Mourinho thinks he knows why. 

As far as he was concerned, with one of the world's greatest goalkeepers in David de Gea and a tight defence, the issue was up front. 

The forwards were there, but the goals weren't. 

Manchester United spent heavily to sign Romelu Lukaku from Everton earlier this month

'You have four creative players, four players who you need to score a goal for you, and they didn't,' Mourinho said in April. 

'They had flashes, they had glimpses, they had moments but they don't have consistency, and we pay two more points for that.' 

He was talking about Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who between them scored 14 times in the league last season. 

Lukaku is one of the best poachers in England - scoring 94 per cent of his goals inside the box

And the criticism continued a week later, when he had another dig. 'It is obvious we do not score enough goals,' Mourinho said.  'We have the chances but we don't convert enough.' 

This was perhaps Mourinho poking Ed Woodward in the ribs and it worked, because he now has a £75million man who he hopes will turn those dull draws into wins.

Romelu Lukaku has scored 71 goals in the last three seasons in all competitions and 94 per cent of those were from inside the area. That's his territory. 

Unlike Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored 17 from outside of the box in the same time, Lukaku strictly tends to stick to 18 yards or less. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a greater proportion of his goals from outside the area - 16 per cent

He is one of the Premier League's top penalty-box poachers – and he is likely to get his chance to prove that at Old Trafford.

Last season, United were fourth in the Premier League for crosses (849), as only Swansea (864), Crystal Palace (872) and Southampton (948) made more. 

Mourinho's team only converted 1.2 per cent of their crosses into goals, however, and that's where Lukaku could come in. 

United's total number of crosses will only increase if they sign Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic, after all. Perisic provided a staggering 203 crosses from the wing in Serie A last season. 

United were fourth in the league for crosses last season, with 849 deliveries into the box

Lingard, by comparison, provided a total of 25. Mkhitaryan, 48. Martial, 56. Indeed, it seems supporters of United should expect more crosses than ever next season. 

Lukaku has the tactical nous to know when to find a yard of space in the box, as he and Yannick Bolasie showed by striking up a profitable partnership at Everton. 

The Belgian is big, powerful and fast-paced for his 6ft 3in frame, and last season only Harry Kane scored more than the striker. 

United's 25-match unbeaten run in the league last season was impressive, though frustrating at the same time as it involved 12 draws. 

Red Devils fans can expect even more crosses should Ivan Perisic arrive from Inter Milan

In the end it left them sixth and dependent on winning the Europa League to get a ticket to the Champions League. They cannot afford to do so again, and that's where Lukaku comes in as the match-winner. 

Yet despite his £75m price tag, he still has potential to improve. In 11 outings against the Premier League's top six sides, Lukaku scored only four goals, so there is work to be done.

It is the league's lesser sides that he enjoys facing – there were his four goals against Bournemouth and an 11-minute hat-trick at Sunderland last season, for example.

All seven of those strikes were from inside the area – and four were the results of crosses. That's what Mourinho hopes Lukaku will bring to Manchester too.