Romelu Lukaku has made a decent start to pre-season at Manchester United, scoring his first goal against Real Salt Lake, and offering fans a tantalising glimpse of what to expect this season while doing so.

Lukaku offers the physicality of Zlatan Ibrahimovic along with some pace to run in behind defences, something that understandably eluded Ibrahimovic. Lukaku also has a handy proclivity for scoring regularly against the league's fodder, something that United struggled badly with last season.

So as many herald the impact Lukaku will have on United, one man refusing to join the chorus is Eamon Dunphy.

Writing in his column in today's Irish Daily Star, Dunphy is unconvinced by Lukaku, and in the middle of a column decrying the crazed monies of the Premier League, he dismisses Lukaku as "the Belgian Heskey".

I don't think Mourinho has secured any of his top targets. Romelu Lukaku is big and strong and he hits hot streaks at times - but he's the Belgian Emile Heskey. Is he the man that's going to push United back to the summit in England and in Europe? No chance. Remember, United have lost Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They scored 23 Premier League goals between them last season - with the Swede accounting for the bulk of that tally. So is Lukaku going to be a game changer? They need him to chip in with at least 20 goals just to replace what they've lost. Maybe Mourinho will get his hands on a couple of top class players, but I wouldn't bet on it.


Dunphy appears to be drawing comparisons between United's signing of Lukaku and Liverpool's purchase of Heskey in 2000. Their respective goal records, however, point to Dunphy's critique being pretty unfair: Heskey had 40 goals in 154 league appearances for Leicester, whereas Lukaku scored 68 goals in 141 league games for Everton, having also hit a goal every two games for West Brom.

Read Dunphy's full column in today's Irish Daily Star.