Manchester United transfer news: Romelu Lukaku's agent hints at move away from Old Trafford
Lukaku has lost his automatic starting spot under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Marcus Rashford preferred as United's first-choice No 9
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Your support makes all the difference.Romelu Lukaku’s future is “very open” according to his agent Federico Pastorello, in a hint that he could leave Manchester United at the end of the season.
Lukaku arrived at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho in a £75million transfer from Everton in the summer of 2017 and has since scored 42 goals in 90 appearances.
But the Belgian has lost his automatic starting status since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s appointment, with Marcus Rashford generally preferred as United’s first-choice No 9.
In an interview with Sky Sports News, Pastorello said that Lukaku is still happy at Solskjaer’s United but left the door open for a move away from the Premier League.
“At the moment he is very focused on finishing the season,” Pastorello said. “The competition for third and fourth place in England is very tight so let’s see what will happen in the future at the end the season.
“It’s his second season here and he will still have three years on his contract until the end. Let’s see. He’s someone who loves to know a different culture, a different football.
“He sees a way to have a career playing in different countries because he would like to win some trophies and prove himself and say to his children: ‘I won there and I won there and I won there’ and ‘I was a very good player in all the top championships’.
“So let’s see, the future is really very open but, at the moment, we don’t discuss about that because really the season is in a big moment.”
Pastorello added: “He likes Italy. When he was a child he followed a lot the Italian league. Everybody agrees today the Premier League is the best but years ago Italy was the best and they were the dreams for the younger footballer players.
“Teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona of course attract any champion so he sees also in La Liga one day. Bundesliga for sure is a very good championship.”
Lukaku has started 11 of Solskjaer’s 21 games in charge of United since he replaced Mourinho in December, but had to wait until 29 January to make his first league start under the Norwegian.
“In this period what he appreciates a lot about the manager is he was keeping him involved with a lot of attention,” Pastorello said. “That is normal with the level of the player but sometimes managers are not so used to doing it anyway.
“Once he had the opportunity he scored goals so he was important when not starting and when he got the opportunity to start, he scored [three games in a row].
“He was amazing in the victory against Paris Saint-Germain so now we think he’s back on his place.”
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