Manchester United cannot afford to rest striker Romelu Lukaku right now, says manager Jose Mourinho. No rest for the wicked, or at least not until Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns, which should probably be early in the new year.
“Without Zlatan we cannot rotate the striker, especially because Marcus Rashford is playing also in other positions,” Mourinho said at his weekly news conference on Friday.
“So until the moment we have Zlatan we cannot think about giving rest to our No. 9, the same way we give in other positions. We cannot do that.”
Romelu Lukaku has ten goals in his last ten games for United, 13 scoring strikes in the 14 that he’s played with the club overall. He has six goals in six league games with United.
When asked about his progress and development this season, Mourinho offered this:
“I don’t want to speak about his progress. If I do that, it looks like we did something extraordinary in three months that he didn’t have in the remaining years of his career. I don’t think it’s fair. It’s just a global evolution. I think every step in his career he got it, he grabbed it with both hands.
“Since his first loan to West Bromwich Albion, grabbed the opportunity with both hands, fighting for his evolution. He was very strong in his desire to be playing in a team with other objectives now, with Champions League football, was always his dream to come to this level and since he arrived I don’t think he thinks in another thing than in his success.”
Mourinho then added this about the £75 million summer transfer window addition from Everton:
“So he works hard, he rests, he has a great professional life outside the football pitch. He has ambitions, he enjoys. So I think he’s a global evolution. I wouldn’t be fair, I wouldn’t say that every step in his career with different managers, with different fellow players, with different teams, is not contributing to what he is now,”
“And now of course I think Manchester United is a different level of expectation and he’s coping well,” Mourinho said of his former player when both were at Chelsea.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.