Why Inter Milan are getting the best out of Romelu Lukaku

By the time Romelu Lukaku left Manchester United, opinions on his striking prowess and suitability for the Premier League were sufficiently divided that fans hardly revolted – no, that reaction came when they found out he wasn't going to be replaced, at least not in the same transfer window. And now, to the consternation of many Red Devils, Lukaku is scoring for fun at Inter in Serie A, including an emotional goal to end the Derby Della Madonnina. What's changed?

Using our league adjustments, we can look at Lukaku's stats in both Serie A and the Premier League at a Premier League standard. Believe it or not, his underlying attacking output is still close to average  – it's barely changed! – but he's good in the air in open play and a good finisher as well. Those are the attributes that have separated him somewhat from the pack, then as now:

The real change has been in Lukaku's role. Look at how his style evolved over the past few seasons in the comparison below. He used to do more forward passing for Manchester United – he was quite an aggressive passer, in fact – and shoot less. Now he links up, gets into the box to receive the ball, and shoots more for Inter. He's still not a classic target man, but he's getting closer:

To add some context, we can look at Lukaku's smartermaps for the past couple of seasons in the Premier League. In 2017-18 he came in from the right side and arrived near the middle of the box:

Then, in 2018-19, he was often confined to a narrow central channel, which was very different from how he'd played before. Apart from that, he roved around looking to get involved. It didn't look great for a guy who was supposed to be a dominant attacker:

Now check out Lukaku's smartermap for this season in Serie A. He's much more involved on the edge of the box and in the traditional areas for target and hold-up play (though he doesn't often play with his back to goal). He's taking shots further to the GK's left, too, which he seems to prefer – it's more similar to what he did during his heyday at Everton. But compared with his time at Manchester United, it's all totally different:

If anything, it's remarkable that he managed to keep his attacking so steady even while his role and the playing style of his club changed so much. And now, playing more as a pure scorer and in a slightly easier league, the goals are flowing. Lukaku's only 26, and hopefully now he'll have a chance to fine-tune his position within Antonio Conte's system, and then finally see that attacking output number rise further.

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[Photo: Дмитрий Садовников]