Former Inter star Alessandro Altobelli admits he has been pleasantly surprised by the performances of Romelu Lukaku for the club, and has no qualms about placing him among the world's striking elite.
Lukaku has spearheaded Inter's title charge in 2020-21, making them favourites for their first Scudetto since 2010.
And according to Altobelli, he is up there with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland when it comes to talent in front of the net.
What was said?
“At the beginning of the season, I thought he was an average player, but I was wrong,” Altobelli, who spent more than a decade with Inter in the 1970s and 80s and helped Italy to lift the 1982 World Cup, told La Gazzetta dello Sport .
“Italy is the university of football. If you want to make a further step, you must play in Serie A.
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“Lukaku is not only capable of scoring in any way and against any opponent, but he is also a great leader who helps the team. For me, he is on the same level as Lewandowski, Haaland and Mbappe.”
When asked whether the Belgium star was as good as him in his heyday, though, the Nerazzurri favourite gave a diplomatic response.
“Nice question, but we’re talking about different eras. I was among the best strikers of my generation, and now the same is true of Romelu,” he added.
The bigger picture
Lukaku joined Inter in the summer of 2019 after enduring mixed fortunes over two seasons at Manchester United.
He immediately struck up a fine partnership with Lautaro Martinez, ensuring that the loss of captain Mauro Icardi went almost unnoticed at San Siro.
The Belgian hit 23 Serie A goals in his debut campaign as Inter took a distant second place behind Juventus and looks set to smash that mark in 2020-21, having netted 21 times in 29 league outings to date.
Martinez has chipped in with 15 goals of his own, figures that have played a huge part in Inter opening an 11-point lead over nearest rivals AC Milan at the summit with just eight games left to play.
Further reading
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