Ex-Liverpool star predicts Romelu Lukaku to leave Manchester United in the summer

Former Liverpool ace Danny Murphy predicts that Romelu Lukaku could make way from Manchester United when the season comes to a close. The Belgium international was the undisputed choice upfront during his maiden campaign with the club last term and he contributed 27 goals across all competitions.

However, he has not been able to replicate the form this season with just nine goals and things have become recently become tough for him with the inability to command a starting role. Speaking on TalkSPORT, Murphy has said that Lukaku may not fancy being the club’s number two behind Marcus Rashford in the long-term and this could eventually tempt him to pursue a fresh challenge during the summer.

He quipped: “I don’t think Lukaku will want to be a number two, he’ll want to be the main man somewhere. I think Rashford has become the main striker who plays in all the big games for Man United. And I don’t think Lukaku is going to sit around as Rashford’s understudy, I think he could go in the summer.”

Lukaku had been regularly leading the line for United without much success at the start of the season with ex-boss Jose Mourinho reluctant to play Marcus Rashford in the centre-forward role. However, that situation has changed with the dismissal of the Portuguese with interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer preferring to go with the younger Rashford upfront.

Rashford had struggled for regular starts under the guidance of Mourinho but that has not been the case with Ole at the helm. He had started each of the club’s previous eight matches in the Premier League and out of those, he has contributed six goals including the winner in the close 1-0 win over Leicester City last weekend. United are currently fifth on the table with a two-point deficit to the Champions League positions.