Arsene Wenger confirms Arsenal wanted to sign Romelu Lukaku in 2011
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has revealed that he tried to sign Everton forward Romelu Lukaku before the big Belgian moved to Chelsea in 2011. Lukaku has gone from strength to strength since coming to England from RSC Anderlecht and is now one of the better strikers in the league with Liverpool side, Everton.
Everton take on Arsenal in the Premier League early tomorrow evening and will look to make ground on the top half of the table. The Gunners, meanwhile, will look to close to gap on title rivals Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Romelu Lukaku could come in between Arsenal's first legitimate chase for the title in a long time and Wenger admits he was interested in signing the youngster while he was still in Belgium.
“Yes, we knew him from Belgium, but he went to Chelsea,” Wenger said. “He's developing well. Year after year he's better. His finishing his better, technical link-up play is better.
“He is promising a big career. It's always a sign when the numbers are better year after year. He went out on loan to Everton and I did expect him to go back to Chelsea. After that, we were never on the case.”
And when the Frenchman was asked what he thought of Lukaku's presence, he said, “Look, we've just played against Neymar, Messi and Suarez.
"He'll give us another headache. Our defenders should take encouragement from the performance they put in against Barcelona.”
Lukaku has been in fine form this season scoring 21 goals in the 30 domestic appearances he's made with the Toffees while Arsenal have struggled to find a consistent goal scorer again this season with Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott spurning multiple chances to score. The Gunners created multiple chances against Liga BBVA side Barcelona midweek but failed to convert any of those chances with their only goal coming from Mohamed Elneny, a deep-lying midfielder.