Biography

Striker for the R.S.C. Anderlecht (Anderlecht, 2009-2011), Chelsea F.C. (England, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2021-), West Bromwich Albion F.C. (England, 2012-13), Everton F.C. (England, 2014-2017), Manchester United F.C. (England, 2017-2019) and Inter Milan (Italy, 2019-2021).

His father, Roger Lukaku, former international with Congo.

International with Belgium National Football Team since 2010. Member of the Euro 2016, 2020, and the Brazil '14 and Russia '18 squads.

Honours with R.S.C. Anderlecht: Belgian First Division (2010); Belgian Super Cup (2010). Honours with Chelsea F.C.: FA Cup (2012); UEFA Champions League (2012). Honours with Inter Milan: Serie A (2021).

Top scorer of the Belgian First Division (2010), UEFA Europa League (2015) and UEFA Nations League (2021).

I wanted to be the best footballer in Belgian history. That was my goal. Not good. Not great. The best. I played with so much anger, because of a lot of things ... because of the rats running around in our apartment ... because I couldn't watch the Champions League ... because of how the other parents used to look at me.

Now I'm about to play in another World Cup, and you know what? I'm going to remember to have fun this time. Life is too short for the stress and the drama. People can say whatever they want about our team, and about me.

I don't know why some people in my own country want to see me fail. I really don't. When I went to Chelsea and I wasn't playing, I heard them laughing at me. When I got loaned out to West Brom, I heard them laughing at me. But it's cool. Those people weren't with me when we were pouring water in our cereal. If you weren't with me when I had nothing, then you can't really understand me.

When things were going well, I was reading newspapers articles and they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker. When things weren't going well, they were calling me Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent. If you don't like the way I play, that's fine. But I was born here. I grew up in Antwerp, and Liège and Brussels. I dreamed of playing for Anderlecht. I dreamed of being Vincent Kompany. I'll start a sentence in French and finish it in Dutch, and I'll throw in some Spanish or Portuguese or Lingala, depending on what neighborhood we're in. I'm Belgian. We're *all* Belgian. That's what makes this country cool, right?

May 24, 2009. The playoff final. Anderlecht vs. Standard Liège. That was the craziest day of my life. But we have to back up for a minute. Because at the start of the season, I was barely playing for the Anderlecht U-19s. The coach had me coming off the bench. I'm like, "How the hell am I going to sign a pro contract on my 16th birthday if I'm still on the bench for the U-19s?" So I made a bet with our coach. I told him, "I'll guarantee you something. If you actually play me, I'm going to score 25 goals by December." He laughed. He literally laughed at me. I said, "Let's make a bet then." He said, "O.K., but if you don't score 25 by December, you're going to the bench." I said, "Fine, but if I win, you're going to clean all the minivans that take the players home from training." He said, "O.K., it's a deal." I said, "And one more thing. You have to make pancakes for us every day." He said, "O.K., fine." That was the dumbest bet that man ever made. I had 25 by November. We were eating pancakes before Christmas, bro. Let that be a lesson. You don't play around with a boy who's hungry!