Time for Lukaku to be considered an Everton great

Everton pulled off a masterstroke when they secured Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea. Getting him on a permanent deal was unbelievable.

Since then the striker has proved to be not only one a bargain at £28 million but also one of the best players in the club’s history.

Many would argue about that point and it’s their right to do so. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the time for those people. The Belgian is a world-class player and if you cannot see that, then I question your footballing knowledge entirely.

His goal against Sunderland, scrappy and a little lucky as it might have been, was his 60^th in the Premier League for the Blues, a total that puts him at the top of the club’s charts with Duncan Ferguson. Let’s have a look at some other Lukaku stats:

• He has 77 goals in 174 Premier League games, including his time at Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion. Cristiano Ronaldo managed 84 in 196 for Manchester United.
• That tally puts him inside the top 50 Premier League goalscorers of all time, ahead of the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez and Eric Cantona.
• He’s averaged 2.2 Premier League goals per game so far. If he continues at that rate, he’ll have 135 by the time he reaches 200 games in the division.
• He’s scored more Premier League goals before the age of 24 than any other player. Harry Kane, in comparison, has 66.
• He is also is the joint highest scoring player aged 23 or under in Europe's top five leagues this season alongside Harry Kane and Andrea Belotti.

Those are impressive numbers, to say the least, and a further look into them would probably bring up even more stats to support this argument.

When you consider that he is still only 23-years-old and yet to hit his prime, it makes the statistics even more impressive.

Some Evertonians will probably never take Lukaku to their hearts as they have done other strikers down the years. The debate on him will be one that continues for his entire stay at Goodison Park.

For me, though, he’s world class, there’s no doubt about it and if Duncan Ferguson is considered a legend on the Blue half of Merseyside then it is time Lukaku was given equal standing.