The pressure of playing for a club of the stature of Manchester United can make or break a footballer, various top talents joining the Red Devils have failed to live up to expectations and flopped when the Theatre of Dreams presented itself to them.
Notable examples include Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, Alexis Sanchez, and more – coming into Man United with so much expected of them on their shoulders, leading to them failing to deliver on the big stage for their new employers.
It is often the attackers at Manchester United that come in for the big bucks and completely fail to get going, Sanchez in particular boasted an impressive Premier League record with Arsenal before joining the Red Devils – scoring 80 goals for the Gunners in total.
Yet, when Man United came calling, he would only register a meagre five goals from 45 starts.
So many transfer misfires have occurred over the years at Old Trafford, with the deal to bring Romelu Lukaku in sticking out as another notable letdown.
How much did Man United sign Romelu Lukaku for?
Man United made Lukaku their statement signing during the 2017-18 transfer window after the Belgian garnered a reputation for being a deadly striker at Everton, signing for £75m to end his four-season stay with the Toffees.
In the same transfer window, Man United also added Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelof to the group – Lindelof is still present today at Old Trafford.
At the time, it felt like a purchase that showed the Red Devils meant business. The ex Chelsea man had netted 87 goals from 166 games for Everton, including 25 goals in his final Premier League season on Merseyside which saw him pick up their Player of the Season accolade.
But, unfortunately for both Lukaku and his new club, the move never really lived up to the billing.
He would score goals for the Red Devils, but the expectation levels had been raised – fans of Man United were anticipating Lukaku to be the missing piece of the jigsaw that got the club back to their glory days.
But, his new team would go trophyless under both Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær during his two seasons in Manchester.
Still, Lukaku did contribute and managed 42 goals from 96 starts for United before Italy beckoned in the form of Inter Milan in 2019.
How has Lukaku performed since leaving Man United?
Lukaku would become a feared attacker once again when pulling on the Inter Milan strip, letting his football do the talking after widespread criticism had followed him around in Manchester.
He would net a devastating 78 strikes for Inter from just 132 matches, a hero at the San Siro. A move back to the Premier League with Chelsea would then materialise, but again, Lukaku could not score consistently when a pressurised move to the English top-flight materialised.
He would then up and leave Chelsea to return to the Serie A to play under his former Red Devils head coach Jose Mourinho with AS Roma, where the goals have started flowing again.
This season for Roma alone he has outscored every single Man United player so far this campaign, managing seven goals from nine games.
Comparatively, Man United's sharpest shooter to date is surprisingly Casemiro with four goals. Strikers under Erik ten Hag so far this season have been goal-shy, Rasmus Højlund netting three goals but all of those strikes have come in the Champions League.
Lukaku, therefore, has managed to put his bad spell with the Red Devils to one side and continues to excel in Italy whilst Ten Hag struggles to try and find similar potency from his current crop of attackers.
