Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville doesn’t believe Jurgen Klopp would ever be interested in signing Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgium international is understood to be on the brink of a return to Chelsea in a whopping €115 million deal, as per Fabrizio Romano.
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But Neville is of the opinion that hypothetical moves to Premier League rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and Man United wouldn’t have suited Lukaku.
Speaking to The Overlap podcast, the former full-back explained why he doesn’t think the striker would fit in at Chelsea’s rivals…
“Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t sign Lukaku in a million years. Neither would probably Pep Guardiola, but Chelsea are the club that have had that type of striker,” Neville said.
“A [Diego] Costa, a [Didier] Drogba, a single point striker, that physical presence that wants to carry that line. They’ve had that in their armoury for 20 years. It suits Chelsea. He wouldn’t press from the front, so he’d never suit Jurgen Klopp.
“He would never suit Old Trafford. The fans up there need a personality up front. [Edinson] Cavani – I know he’s probably past his best years, but he works a lot harder than Lukaku off the ball.
“I’m not saying he’s better – Lukaku will score 25 goals for Chelsea, but he doesn’t suit United or Liverpool.”
It’s tough to hear a pundit speak negatively about a player who scored 64 club goals over the last two years, but Neville’s Lukaku comments make a lot of sense.
The Belgium international is an outstanding goal-scorer and adept at holding up the ball, but offers little else – and that simply wouldn’t fly at Anfield.
That being said, like the former Man United defender, we at Empire of the Kop aren’t saying Lukaku isn’t a great player, he just wouldn’t suit playing under Klopp.