Manager Ronald Koeman says leading scorer Romelu Lukaku wouldn’t have looked out of place in the great Dutch team that won the European Championships in 1988.
Koeman and his older brother, Erwin, were both members of the Holland squad that took Euro ’88 by storm, inspired by the goalscoring exploits of Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit.
Van Basten scored five goals during that tournament in West Germany, including a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over in England in the group stages, and a stunning volley against the USSR in the final, to cement his reputation as one of the greatest strikers in world football.
Now Lukaku is demonstrating similar predatory instincts at Everton to Koeman’s former Dutch teammate and, having worked closely with both players, the Blues boss believes his current number 10 compares favourably.
The Everton boss said: “Rom’s one of the best, even compared to some of the players from my time. He’s world class.
“He also knows he needs to improve in the total picture of the player.
“But that part of him (his finishing) is world class.”
Those thoughts were also echoed by Erwin Koeman, who played alongside Van Basten and is now working with Lukaku in his capacity as Everton’s assistant manager.
Speaking to evertontv, he said: “I think Romelu is better (than Van Basten) in terms of finishing.
“We see Romelu on the pitch every day in training and his finishing around the 18-yard box and in the 18-yard box is amazing and maybe he is the best in the world at that.”
Lukaku demonstrated his attacking prowess with four goals in the 6-3 win over Bournemouth, which took him to the top of the Premier League scoring charts.
And whilst the manager would love to see the Belgium international finish the season with the Golden Boot, he stressed his role in the team is not just about scoring goals.
Koeman added: “It’s always a good ambition for a striker to be the top scorer in the league and I think the four goals he scored last week was a boost for the player.
“But don’t look too much at goals, otherwise you will only be focused on scoring goals.
“Focus on the team, focus on the job you need to do when we don’t have the ball, focus on your movements, and we know if we do get a chance then normally he will score the goals.
“That’s more important than to simply focus on scoring goals.”
Everton FC