Two goals on his competitive Old Trafford debut was not quite the perfect start to life at Manchester United for Romelu Lukaku, who claims he wanted a hat-trick against West Ham on Sunday.
The Belgian striker netted a brace in a 4-0 victory as United opened their 2017-18 Premier League campaign in some style, giving cause for plenty of early season optimism among supporters of the Red Devils.
In centre-forward Lukaku, prised away from Everton for a reported initial fee of £75million, fans have a key reason to believe their team is capable of challenging for a first league title since 2012-13.
And it appears the Belgium international is not easily satisfied.
Asked by MUTV if he could have hoped for more, Lukaku replied with a wry smile: I wished to have three goals and a hat-trick to be fair, that would have been nicer.
The manager had a plan that we executed well. The fans were delighted with our performance, it was really offensive and we kept a clean sheet, which is good as well for the defenders. Overall it was a good team performance.
There was only one fan who didn t want a hat-trick for
Your record is safe for another year, !
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
As for how it felt to pull on a United shirt following spells with Chelsea, West Brom on loan and Everton, ex-Anderlecht man Lukaku said: I was thinking about it a lot during the week. I had a conversation with Paul [Pogba] as well this morning.
I was excited in the warm up, the fans greeting much and just running around, feeling the atmosphere.
I m really privileged to play for the biggest club in the world. I want to keep working hard and deliver more than I m doing now.
I just woke up and had a good feeling, I knew it would be a good day.
