Kevin De Bruyne believes Romelu Lukaku will be a success at Manchester United, and will provide the goal return to justify his price tag.
Jose Mourinho paid a club-record £75 million for the man he sold to Everton for £27 million in 2014, and there has been the usual divide in opinions over whether the Anderlecht youth product can provide the goods in attack at Old Trafford.
United’s new number nine has scored twice in pre-season so far, following from a record of 71 goals in 133 games for Everton, including a 25-goal season in the Premier League at Everton last term.
And his Belgian teammate, also rejected at Chelsea before rebuilding his career, has showered praise on Lukaku and even had a rough estimate for how many goals his compatriot will score next season.
Lukaku was overlooked in De Bruyne’s Premier League Team Of The Season:
“I think he [Lukaku] will do very well,” De Bruyne is quoted as saying by Goal.
“Everyone knows what his qualities are and he will do what he has to do.
“There’s a lot said about these big transfers, people mock him and other players on social media. You know it’s there, but you just can’t care about that.
“You just have to do your job, and I think he’ll score 20 to 25 goals for United a season and that will speak for itself.
Playing with him for the national team, De Bruyne knows Lukaku and says he’s already among the top strikers in the world despite still only being relatively young.
“If you see his ratio of goals, it’s incredible,” he added.
He’s one of the best in the world and what is he, 24? You can say that about him at that age.
“Obviously he has his way of playing’ don’t compare him to a Lionel Messi. He’s a big, physical guy and can be awesome.”
De Bruyne’s thoughts on Lukaku echo that of Michael Owen, who tipped the big Belgian to be goal-heavy next term.
Owen said:
“The only question is how good can he [Lukaku] be? Could he become a top United player for years to come?
“I fully expect him to score more than 20 goals a season so it’s just a matter of how well he can do.”
“Top players are just used to pressure. Price-tags are something that you don’t even think of, it’s just a game of football and when you know you can do it, nerves don’t come into it.
“He’ll be playing in a team that will create a lot of chances and he’s a top player so it’s inevitable he’s going to score goals.”