Lukaku: Moving to Everton was the best step of my career
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku has said that his loan move to Everton was the best move he could make and he says that the move has turned him into the complete striker.
Lukaku says that training under the stewardship of Roberto Martinez has helped his concentration and helped him play with his back to goal, when all he ever thought about before was running at defenders.
He said: “I only know one thing and that is that, in my opinion, Chelsea are still the biggest club in England. And they have a very, very good manager!
“I have a contract with Chelsea after this summer and I am not focusing on any move to Atletico.
“Let me say that I am now the complete striker. I never thought I was a target man, a No.9 who could play with his back to the goal. I always wanted to run at defenders. That is still a great quality, but now I can do both. I love playing as a real striker in the box now.
“I have been playing all season for a team which has more than 60 percent of the time possession of the ball.
“Technically I have been improving as a player. I play for a manager who makes his team play really good football and I don’t have to chase the ball all the time.
“Getting the ball so often close to the goal becomes a natural thing.
“My concentration is better than ever on finishing, rather than on running with the ball. I am absolutely convinced that moving to Everton was the best step in my career. When you feel everything is working out, it makes you so relaxed and happy as a player in big matches.’’
“In my head I feel better than ever,” he said. “I finished the Premier League season on a high. I scored two goals in my last two matches. After that I went home to my family and spent a whole week clearing my head from a hectic 12 month period.
“I needed to be mentally strong and fresh for the World Cup. As soon as I went onto the pitch in a Belgium shirt I scored a hat-trick for my country.
“I now feel that everything I want to do is happening. It all works. Yes, I have been scoring goals for Belgium by doing a slalom in between defenders. I never used to do that.
“But I have been training on that technical aspect every day at the end of the season with Everton. The last time I had scored a goal like that was in a youth team. But at Everton training has been brilliant and my confidence is higher than ever.
“I keep the ball from my Belgium hat-trick at home. It is in a trophy cabinet next to the match ball from the Man United game, when I scored three times for West Brom. I would love to get another ball.”
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