Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has lavished praise on Romelu Lukaku and insisted that the striker brings a lot more to the collective than just his goals.
After a patchy run of form, Lukaku has again been amongst the scorers in recent weeks and has notched up 24 goals in all competitions for Manchester United thus far.
Mourinho stuck with him even when underwent a dry spell in the middle of the season and the Belgian recently revealed that the manager almost treats him as one of his sergeants on the pitch.
The Manchester United manager admits that he has lot of trust in the striker and loves the character and attitude he brings to the team, which was evident by his willingness to play as a centre-back in the closing stages against Crystal Palace on Monday night.
Mourinho stressed that it is important to have players of his attitude in the squad as he brings a lot more than just his quality in front of goal.
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Reacting to Lukaku’s comments, the Manchester United manager said in a press conference: “I had a laugh with him. That’s fine. He’s an important guy for me, one of the guys that I trust, that I love the attitude, I love the character.
“Against Crystal Palace, there was nothing that happened after our third goal but I told him central defender, so after the third goal he was playing central defender in a back five with [Chris] Smalling and [Victor] Lindelof because I couldn’t make any more changes.
"So when I say to the striker go there and do a job for me he is a sergeant.
“He is a guy you can trust, his attitude is phenomenal. That is why I always thought and told you many times for me it’s not just about the goals he scored but what he brings to the team and he brings to the team that exact spirit.
“It’s that spirit.”
Lukaku recently scored against Chelsea at Old Trafford and Mourinho will be hoping that Lukaku has his big game boots on when Manchester United host Liverpool on Saturday.
