Romelu Lukaku - Belgian Men, Timeline and Childhood

Romelu Lukaku was born on May 13, 1993, in Antwerp, Northern Belgium, to Roger and Adolphine. His family belonged to the Belgian black minority community. His father was a keen fan of football and did not miss a single ‘Premier League’ match. Romelu would often spend hours watching the game on TV with his father. He was soon addicted to the sport. His father was a known footballer back in his days and had played in international matches for Zaire.

Romelu was addicted to the sport through video games. However, despite his love for football, he was fairly good in academics. His younger brother, Jordan, followed Romelu in his passion for football, and both the brothers practiced together.

Impressed by Romelu’s abnormal passion for football, his father enrolled him at a local club, ‘Rupel Boom,’ when Romelu was 5 years old. During his four years at the club, he outperformed the other children in the team. He was spotted by scouts from another club, ‘Lierse,’ during one of his matches. ‘Lierse’ had a well-established youth academy, and in 2004, they took Romelu in.

Romelu scored 121 goals in the 68 matches he played for ‘Lierse,’ which was a remarkable performance. After the relegation of ‘Lierse’ from the ‘Belgian Pro League,’ several players from the club were taken in by ‘Anderlecht.’ Romelu was one of them and scored 131 goals in his 93 matches for ‘Anderlecht.’ Romelu was turning out to be a popular young footballer.

Not willing to let him go, ‘Anderlecht’ presented a three-year contract to Romelu as soon as he turned 16 in 2009. During the 2009–2010 season, he became a key member of ‘Anderlecht’s first team and ended the season as the leading goal-scorer in the ‘Pro League,’ with 15 goals. His performance turned out to be one of the main reasons that helped ‘Anderlecht’ attain the Belgian title. ‘Anderlecht’ also reached the top 16 of the ‘UEFA Europa League.’

The next season, ‘Anderlecht’ ended up losing the Belgian title. However, Romelu scored 25 goals throughout the season and his performance was praised. The ‘Premier League’ club ‘Chelsea’ showed interest in Romelu, and he signed a five-year contract with them in 2011. Romelu was named the ‘Man of the Match’ in his debut ‘Premier League’ game against ‘Blackburn Rovers.’

By the end of the season, Romelu’s performance lost its sharpness, and despite his team winning the ‘UEFA Champions League’ title, Romelu was not too happy with his performance. He was loaned to ‘West Bromwich Albion’ for one season and scored in his debut game against ‘The Hawthorns.’

After the end of his first season, he expressed his desire to stay with ‘West Bromwich Albion’ for one more season. He proved his mettle and outscored all his “actual” ‘Chelsea’ teammates. He finished the 2012–2013 season as the sixth-highest goal-scorer.

In the beginning of the 2013–2014 season, he went back to ‘Chelsea,’ and in 2013, he was loaned to ‘Everton’ for a season-long deal. After a successful haul, he was named by ‘The Guardian’ as one of the top ten European players, in early 2014. By the end of the season, Romelu had scored 15 goals for ‘Everton’ in 31 league matches, making his team reach the 5th spot in the final tally. He also helped his team achieve a record-high 72 points in the overall points tally.

He was comfortable playing for ‘Everton,’ and when he was offered a five-year contract by them, he could not reject it. In the 2015 ‘UEFA Europa League,’ he was one of the two highest scorers of the tournament.

In December 2015, Romelu scored goals in six consecutive ‘Premier League’ matches, making him the first striker from ‘Everton’ to achieve the feat. He scored another goal in the seventh match, making himself the first ‘Everton’ player to score in seven matches across all competitions.

During the 2016–2017 season in September, Romelu scored a hat-trick within the first 12 minutes of the game against ‘Sunderland.’ This was the twelfth-fastest hat-trick in any ‘Premier League’ match. He touched many records and continued his graceful form throughout the season.

In April 2017, he was included in the ‘Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year,’ better known as the ‘PFA Team of the Year,’ and was a strong contender in the race to win the ‘PFA Player of the Year’ and the ‘PFA Young Player of the Year’ awards.

In July 2017, he signed a contract with ‘Manchester United’ and made his debut in the ‘UEFA Super Cup’ against ‘Real Madrid.’ In his first nine appearances for ‘Manchester United,’ Romelu scored 10 goals. At the end of his first season with the leading ‘Premier League’ team, he had scored 24 goals in 29 matches.

Romelu was part of the Belgian national ‘Under-21’ squad and was included in the team for the 2014 ‘World Cup.’ His younger brother, Jordan Lukaku, was also part of the team, but the team struggled through the tournament. Romelu was also part of the Belgian squad that competed in the 2016 ‘UEFA Euro.’

Romelu Lukaku has been in a relationship with Julia Vandenweghe since 2014 and has never hidden his relationship. They appear happy in their vacation photos on their social-media pages.

Romelu has featured in a documentary, titled ‘De school van Lukaku,’ as himself. The documentary was produced by a Dutch channel. It was filmed when he was a teenager and part of the ‘Anderlecht’ youth academy. The film features him doing regular activities with his classmates.

Romelu knows a number of languages. He can speak Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French. He can comprehend German too.