Romelu Lukaku has admitted he does not know whether he will still be at Manchester United next season.
The striker has struggled to be a first choice under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, though he did start Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford.
Lukaku signed from Everton two years ago for £75m. His contract expires in July 2021 and, as reported by the Guardian, he will consider departing if United fail to qualify for the Champions League. The club may listen to offers regardless. They are three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who have a superior goal difference of eight, with two games left.
Lukaku, asked whether he would stay at the club, said: “I don’t know, I am not here to entertain rumours. I am still under contract.”
Chelsea’s goal came because of David de Gea’s latest error, the goalkeeper palming a regulation 30-yard Antonio Rüdiger shot into the path of Marcos Alonso, who equalised.
Lukaku defended the Spaniard. “He has the been the best player at the club since when? Seven or eight years consistently,” the Belgian said. “I don’t think we should discredit him and suddenly say he is a bad goalkeeper. He has saved us so many times this. It happens to strikers, it happens to midfielders and now it is happening to him. He has to learn from it. We are here to support him and he is strong.
“He had a bad time at the start of his United career as I remember and he was just a kid then but came through it. He did what he had to do then, turned it round, won trophies and became the best player at the club and he is a leader in the dressing room. Now it is up to us as a team to help him and trust his abilities.”
United’s last two games are at Huddersfield on Sunday and at home against Cardiff a week later. The club have said Eric Bailly will miss those matches and the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs from 21 June to 19 July, because of a medial ligament injury the Ivorian suffered in his right knee against Chelsea.
Source – The Guardian