Why Romelu Lukaku Would Be a Great Signing for Real Madrid

Being a football agent must be a great job, right?

For those of us who have long since given up our dreams of playing at the highest level, there is always the glamour associated with negotiating transfer deals, new contracts, money-spinning endorsements and the like. It’s probably a lot of hard work, but it doesn’t seem it, does it? You also need a healthy dose of PR skills, too.

That’s because drumming up interest in your clients is also a key part of being a successful agent, and that’s why it is no surprise when an agent's comments are never too far from a transfer rumour.

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Mino Raiola is one of the best at getting his and the names of his players out there, and he’s been at it again recently with a man who is likely to be one of the most talked-about transfer targets of the summer.

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku has managed to realise his enormous potential during 2015/16, scoring 25 goals in 38 appearances as he’s led the Blues’ line with aplomb.

Sadly, though, those performances haven’t been backed up by the Belgian’s team-mates, and bar reaching the FA Cup semi-finals—with Lukaku’s two goals in the quarter-final against former club Chelsea a key reason for that—it has been a poor season for the Merseyside club, who currently sit 12th in the Premier League, way off the European places.

That is simply not good enough for an ambitious 22-year-old forward who is one of the best in Europe, and the general consensus seems to be that he will move on in the summer. Enter Raiola, and the dangling of several names:

According to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Liverpool Echo):

"

Lukaku? Of course, Juventus as a solution could go well.

But keep an eye on PSG and Real Madrid too for the Everton striker.

Does it also depend on [Gonzalo] Higuain’s future? The environment has changed in Paris. I don’t know if they’re ready to spend €90m – the price of oil has fallen and the emir is keeping more in his pocket.

"

He’s good at this, isn’t he? Raiola is earning every penny of the percentage he’ll be getting from Lukaku’s wages, wages which would surely increase were he to make a transfer this summer.

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Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid were all name-checked there, but it seems to be that the agent was leaning towards the latter as both his and Lukaku’s preferred destination, and the more you think about it, the more that seems to make sense.

Real’s “BBC” has been well-established for quite some time now, but with Cristiano Ronaldo perhaps approaching the final summer in which he could command an exorbitant transfer fee, and Karim Benzema always seemingly on the verge of a Santiago Bernabeu exit, perhaps it is time to freshen things up in the Spanish capital.

How about, instead of promoting a hopeful youngster such as Jese Rodriguez or Lucas Vazquez, Real spend big to bring in a not-quite-yet superstar forward who would be happy to alternate with Ronaldo, Benzema and Gareth Bale and be called upon when the time was right?

Lukaku could be that man.

Not a conventional "big man", he would bring the type of strength and mobility to the forward line that Real lack when Benzema isn't there, and having scored goals in England consistently he would appear to be perfect for La Liga football. Bale was able to make the transition to the Spanish game easily, and the young Belgian could do too.  

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Not that his youth should be used against him, of course.

Lukaku has a remarkable amount of experience for one so young, racking up over 300 senior appearances for club and country before the age of 23. He’s one of only five players to have scored 50 Premier League goals before that age, too, joining Ronaldo, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney on a pretty stellar list.

Of course, he wouldn’t be guaranteed a start every week at Real Madrid, and he perhaps wouldn’t be seen as a “galactico” signing by a club valuing that status dearly, but he might just be the type of signing they should be making right now, perhaps even more so than Chelsea's Eden Hazard, who has endured a forgettable campaign.

Lukaku is young, hungry, determined to better himself and he’s already very good. He’d be a great signing for Real Madrid, or indeed for any other club that wished to snap him up.

See, it’s not that hard to be a football agent at all, is it?