Jose Mourinho claims Romelu Lukaku is exhausted but Manchester United boss admits he cannot afford to rest his £75m striker at the moment

  • Jose Mourinho has claimed Romelu Lukaku is exhausted but he cannot rest him
  • Lukaku has played every minute of all United's Premier League games so far
  • The Belgian has struggled recently with only four goals in his last 19 games 
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still working his way back from a serious knee injury 

Romelu Lukaku is exhausted but Manchester United simply can’t afford to rest him, manager Jose Mourinho has admitted.

Lukaku has only scored four goals in his last 19 games and looked a shadow of the player who hit 11 in his first 10 appearances for United following a £75million summer move from Everton.

The Belgium striker has played every minute of all United’s Premier League games, and Mourinho believes he is desperate for a break.

Romelu Lukaku is exhausted but Man Utd simply can’t afford to rest him, said Jose Mourinho

Romelu Lukaku is exhausted but Man Utd simply can’t afford to rest him, said Jose Mourinho

But with Zlatan Ibrahimovic still working his way back from a serious knee injury at the age of 36, the United boss admits that Lukaku will have to soldier on.


Asked if he could rest him, Mourinho replied: ‘No I can’t. The boy is tired. Physically he’s a monster, but he’s not a machine and he's feeling it.

‘The situation didn't allow him to have any rest and he's giving absolutely everything in every minute. We just managed to give him a little rest in cup matches, and even then he was on the bench for emergency situations. The Champions League was about the same because we had to fight until the last match for qualification.’ 

Lukaku has also been criticised for costing United goals at the other end of the pitch. He was involved in both of Manchester City’s goals in the derby, and again when Burnley took the lead in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on Boxing Day. The 24-year-old notably refused to celebrate his recent goals against Bournemouth and West Brom.

Lukaku has struggled in front of goal recent and has only scored four goals in his last 19 games

Lukaku has struggled in front of goal recent and has only scored four goals in his last 19 games

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still working his way back from a serious knee injury at the age of 36

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still working his way back from a serious knee injury at the age of 36

Mourinho added: ‘People don't have to be grateful to Romelu. I have to be, not you, not the supporters, not the pundits. I have to be.

‘The other day I told 19 matches in the Premier League, now I see 20 matches in the Premier League, 90 minutes. I think for a striker, any player, he's absolutely incredible. But if you are a central defender, a holding midfield player, where you can control your energy, positional play, you can resist, survive. But for a striker, to play 20 matches in the Premier League, 90 minutes, I have to be grateful.

‘Is he unlucky in our box in recent matches? He was in the picture, it was not a direct influence on just him, but he was in the picture in some of the last goals we concede.

‘But it’s a consequence of a player that really needs a little rest, of this consequence is just of the occasion but the guy is fantastic for me and for the team and gives absolutely everything and I've no criticism.’

‘And Zlatan is a man with an incredible injury, an injury that a 20-year-old man or young man would suffer. Imagine a man 36-years-old and so many miles in high level football, so it’s not easy.’ 

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