Romelu Lukaku Reportedly Annoyed with Everton over Not Paying Private-Jet Costs

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku is reportedly miffed with his club after they opted not to pay for him to fly back from international duty with Belgium on a private jet.

According to David Anderson of the Daily Mirror, while Belgium players from Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Burnley all travelled back to the north-west in style for their Premier League games courtesy of their clubs, Lukaku and team-mate Kevin Mirallas were told they’d have to pay the £6,500 themselves if they wanted a seat.

“Boss Ronald Koeman gave his squad Wednesday off then began full preparations for the trip to Wearside on Thursday, and club chiefs did not feel it was necessary to fork out £13,000 to bring their Belgians back early,” the piece stated.

The man himself reacted on social media, though, suggesting there is no veracity to the story:

While the aforementioned clubs all played on Saturday, the Toffees face Sunderland in Monday night’s clash in the Premier League. It means there was less urgency on their part to bring the duo back.

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Despite this, according to Anderson, the tiff “put a fresh strain on Lukaku’s relations with Everton.” The striker was linked with a possible summer exit, although he was still an Everton player at the end of the transfer window.

Lukaku was in decent form for Belgium over the international break, scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Cyprus. Kristof Terreur of Het Laatste Nieuws broke down his impressive goalscoring efforts this year:

On the domestic front, things haven’t been quite so impressive for Lukaku. His last Premier League goal came on March 5, and toward the back end of the 2015-16, he was a long way short of his best as Everton toiled.

Nevertheless, having only drafted in Enner Valencia on loan to bolster the forward positions this summer, the Toffees will be relying on the former Chelsea man heavily again this season.