Martinez claims Romelu Lukaku always put Everton before himself

Roberto Martinez has defended Romelu Lukaku for his time at Everton, claiming he always put the team before himself.

Lukaku is certainly one of the more divisive figures to turn out in royal blue over the past decade. Since leaving for Manchester United in 2017, the Belgian has become the ire of a good majority of the Everton fan base.

Despite scoring 87 goals in 166 games for the club, breaking the record as Everton’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer, the 26-year old’s departure from Goodison Park frustrated many Everton fans just over two years ago.

Lukaku’s agent Mino Raiola claimed in December 2016 that the striker had “99 per cent agreed” to signing a new contract with the club, however Lukaku would go on to reject a new bumper deal in March, questioning the club’s ambition.

With some fans seeing this as a betrayal, and with Everton still not having found an adequate replacement all these years later, many fans can’t forgive Lukaku for using the Toffees as a stepping stone to advance his career.

However, Martinez has defended the forward, claiming that Lukaku always put Everton first during his time as manager. Talking to Gazzetta Dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Martinez said:

Romelu’s strength is that he can always do something different.

This is also a disadvantage because there are games where some things fail. He widens the pitch and creates for others.

If people appreciate these things, even when he doesn’t score, he would be criticised less.

I invite the fans to re-read his story: at 16 he’d already scored with Anderlecht, then at Everton he was important, getting used to the physicality of the Premier League.

At that point, always putting the team ahead of himself, he matured.

Now he is ready to win a title abroad, and I think it’s what he wants to do with Inter. When you put something in your head, you get it.

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I’m going to have to firmly disagree with Roberto Martinez on this one. If Lukaku had truly wanted to put Everton first, he wouldn’t have undermined them at every available opportunity.

Lukaku spoke to the Belgian press on every international break, talking about his future away from the Toffees and implying that he wasn’t in it for the long haul with the club.

Someone who acts with the club’s interests above his own would be more professional when away on international duty, and he would have put his mind to winning silverware with the club, not looking at which other club he could join to take a shortcut.

I’ve got no problem with Lukaku leaving for Manchester United. They’re a bigger club who were in a more prosperous position at the time. However, Lukaku isn’t a saint who always did right by Everton, and he shouldn’t be remembered as such.