Romelu Lukaku vs Alvaro Morata: Different Teams, One Battle
Reuters / Carl Recine
The new Premier League season is hardly a month away, and the world of football simply cannot wait for it to begin. The excitement is off the charts, and the beginning of the pre-season has slowly started to get everyone into the footballing mood all over again.
Every campaign brings with it a tonne of new stuff to look forward to, and this time around, it’s bigger and better than ever before. Not only are the best managers like Conte, Guardiola, Klopp, and Mourinho handling the top teams in the League, but the return of big names like Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United in the Champions League has raised the level of expectations around the quality of football that is about to kick-off soon.
The summer transfer window is single handedly the biggest factor in predicting how the League and its teams will perform in the 12 months that follow. Each set of fans go through ups and downs in a manic phase that ranges from 1st July to 31st August. While some clubs lose big names and say goodbye to legends, some on the other hand, sign players of the highest order. They then hope for them to become superstars and guide their sides to titles and glory.
The latter is exactly what two of the biggest clubs in England, viz. Manchester United and Chelsea, have done so far, as both have signed a mega striker each. While the Red Devils managed to bring in Romelu Lukaku from Everton, Chelsea headed to Spain and convinced Alvaro Morata to leave Real Madrid and make a switch to the reigning Champions of England.
REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
The transfers might sound excellent, but this was certainly not the initial plan. The Big Belgian forward was a priority for Antonio Conte all summer, and was robbed off a deal by Jose Mourinho and his side in the weeks gone by. Consequently, the London side then went all out for United’s previous target, as they confirmed an agreement with Alvaro Morata not so long after they were deemed to be struggling to bring in a centre forward.
However, after all said and done, these two are among the massive deals that have taken the Premier League by storm so far, and the battle between the two star strikers is probably going to be the biggest in the 2017-18 season.
The two will be compared and closely watched on every step of the way. Each move, all the glorious goals and embarrassing misses, the tap ins and controversies, the actions and reactions, all of it will be written down, spoken about, and tossed around like there’s no tomorrow.
Given Lukaku’s experience in the Premier League and his previous brilliance in it with Everton, it gives him an upper hand over the newly arriving Morata. The Spaniard, on the other hand, knows how to be a champion, as not only did he help Real Madrid win the Champions League and La Liga last season, but he has also travelled to the Serie A and been an Italian champion with Juventus too.
While Romelu comes to Old Trafford after having a stellar campaign that saw him bang in 25 goals for the Merseyside club, Morata arrives after having been frustrated on the Santiago Bernabeu bench, but still managing to score 14 goals in the La Liga.
Reuters / Francisco Bonilla
Goals have not been a problem for either player, but the hunger for getting them will be higher in the case of the player coming in from Spain.
Manchester United already have an upper hand in this particular race so far, as their big man has started featuring in their pre-season friendlies. More so, the striker has already bagged 2 goals in 3 matches, the latest of them coming against Manchester City. Chelsea, on the other hand, are yet to reveal Morata as an official signing, and will still have to wait to include him in the team’s pre-season proceedings.
Everton have had a summer filled with a number of new quality players arriving at Goodison Park, and the reason for that has been the £75m they received from the sale of Romelu Lukaku. Thus, the striker will have maximum eyes on him through every match performance, and justifying a price tag so high will not be an easy task to live up to.
One worry that both the players certainly will not be facing is the support from fellow quality footballers in the side. With the likes of Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Juan Mata, Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, and Eden Hazard being among the few names present as playmakers in both the squads, the strikers will be surrounded by talents of the highest order, and all they will have to do is give the final touch and justify what they do by banging in goals, and bringing together moves by finishing them.
The major aspect of the signings of these two strikers is the fact that they have arrived at their respective sides as a sole solution to goalscoring worries. With Diego Costa leaving Stamford Bridge, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as well as Wayne Rooney heading out of the exit doors at Old Trafford, these two are now the main attackers for their respective teams. The pressure of scoring in important matches while reaching figures and statistics expected by the management and the highly demanding fans will be sky high, and something they will have to get used to super fast.
Reuters/David Gray
Not only will the two be battling it all out against each other, but the competition from fellow forwards like Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, and new arrival Alexandre Lacazette will keep them on their toes throughout.
Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku are already the star signings of the summer so far, and whether they will maintain this status at the end of the campaign is something we cannot wait to see.
Written by Vikram Gupta 
An attacker with his words, and defends each of them with pride. A love for the game which goes hand in hand with his will to forever write. A graduate in the course of advertising and a hopeful to be author. Herrera for the win.