Areas Where Everton's Romelu Lukaku Can Still Improve His Game

Romelu Lukaku is already one of the Premier League's leading marksmen.

Over the past two seasons, the Belgium international has netted 32 Premier League goals in loans spells at Everton and West Brom, a tally only Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie have surpassed.

He's also scored more goals than any of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo had at the age of 21.

There are, however, departments of his game that can still improve—something that makes him such an exciting prospect and a sensible one for the Toffees to invest in.

Lukaku is already a clinical finisher. Find him in the 18-yard box and the forward will generally shoot with confidence and precision. He has obvious pace and power, and his movement is an underrated strength of his game, often due to his team-mates' inability to look up and play him through.

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These traits have helped him become only the second player in the past 18 years to hit 15 Premier League goals for Everton. They are facets all strikers crave and having them alone will get certain production.

What would make Lukaku—and Everton—a lot more lethal would be if Lukaku's link-up play improved, which involves a variety of skills.

Firstly, the 21-year-old is certainly not blessed with the slickest first touch. This is unlikely to develop especially and is probably the biggest hole in the striker's game.

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With his back to goal, Lukaku is also inconsistent; he will often lose the ball if he's passed to and expected to hold it up. This sometimes comes down to his first touch, but it is also due to an occasional lack of awareness of when and where to release a pass.

It was highlighted during the World Cup, when Lukaku struggled to fit into Belgium's system. He's not yet a forward comfortable with keeping possession as other attackers buzz around him, as, say, Olivier Giroud does at Arsenal.

Lukaku will often attract attention and dictate an opponent's defensive line, which leaves extra room for Everton's attacking midfielders. As he develops, he should work out additional ways of exploiting this and become more reliable when involved in attacking combinations.

Samuel Eto'o's arrival will also accelerate this. The Cameroon forward has an excellent awareness of space and will effortlessly hold the ball up, linking up well will those around him. He underlined this in a 20-minute cameo against Wolfsburg, and the more Lukaku trains and studies Eto'o's game, the more this area should advance.

In connection with this, Everton's record signing can become more of a creative threat. He created 33 chances for his team-mates last season, including five assists, which is a healthy return for a striker. While his primary concern is finding the net, these are still numbers he will improve as his link-up play and awareness progress, improving his side's overall attack.

Lukaku is already a proven 15-goals-a-season striker. What makes him such an exciting project, and an ideal one for an Everton side reliant on his development, is the very fact that he can still make so many improvements. 

If he progresses as any 21-year-old should, 15 goals a season will soon be viewed as a disappointing return.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

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