Lukaku honors Osimhen. African footballers. Romelu Lukaku turned down the chance to wear Victor Osimhen’s number 9 shirt after joining Napoli at the end of the summer transfer window, even though the club told him he could.
Lukaku Chooses Napoli’s No.11 in Respect for Osimhen
At the start of the weekend, Victor Osimhen was removed from Napoli’s Serie A squad after a dramatic deadline day move fell through. For a brief moment, the Serie A website listed Romelu Lukaku as Napoli’s new number nine, but he ended up wearing the number 11 shirt against Parma instead.
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Reports from Il Mattino and Tuttonapoli suggest that Lukaku declined Napoli’s offer to take the number nine shirt as a sign of respect for Osimhen. Despite not being in the squad, the number nine jersey is still considered to belong to the Nigerian striker. Lukaku made an impressive debut for Napoli, coming off the bench to score a 92nd-minute equalizer against Parma, helping set the stage for Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa’s 96th-minute winner.
More about Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku, born on May 13, 1993, in Antwerp, Belgium, to Congolese parents, is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Chelsea and the Belgium national team. His father, Roger Lukaku, was a professional footballer for Zaire, and his younger brother Jordan plays for Anderlecht’s youth academy. Lukaku also has a cousin, Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo, who plays for Mechelen.
Lukaku started his career at Anderlecht, where he won the Belgian Pro League and was the top scorer. He moved to Chelsea in 2011 but spent time on loan at West Bromwich Albion and Everton. In 2014, he joined Everton permanently, later moving to Manchester United, and then Inter Milan, where he won the Serie A title. He returned to Chelsea in 2021 but was loaned back to Inter Milan and Roma.
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Belgium’s all-time top goalscorer, Lukaku has represented his country in six major tournaments. He was featured in the documentary series “De School Van Lukaku” and has a deep admiration for Chelsea. Fluent in several languages, including French, Dutch, English, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and Swahili, Lukaku is also a practicing Catholic and a teetotaler.