ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC has revealed Romelu Lukaku refused to take a £50 bet on every decent first touch he had during their time at Manchester United.
The LA Galaxy star also joked about the Belgian’s lack of technique before backing his former strike partner to emulate him by becoming a success at Inter Milan.
Lukaku was regularly criticised by United fans for lacking the finesse of other top-level forwards by consistently conceding possession because of his poor ball control.
Zlatan, 38, had a brief spell alongside the Belgium International at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho in 2017, and revealed how he tried to help the 26-year-old improve his all-round play.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Ibrahimovic explained: “I will say this on Romelu: don’t expect good technique from Lukaku.
“His best strength is sheer power. If only he’d listened to me…
Don’t expect good technique from Lukaku
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
“At Manchester United, we made a bet: “’’ll give you £50 for every decent first touch you make.’
“He replied: ‘What do I win if I get them all right?’
“I told him nothing, he would simply become a better player.
“For the record, he never accepted the bet! Perhaps he was afraid of losing…
“Joking aside, Lukaku has this mad hunger to prove himself to the world and I’m sure he will do well at Inter too.”
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Former Everton striker Lukaku sealed a £73million move to the San Siro this summer and has already scored three in his first seven for his new club.
And Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may now be wishing he’d kept the striker on the books, with United worryingly short in front of goal.
The Red Devils have scored just nine times in eight league games this season, sitting fourteenth in the table, 15 points adrift of league-leaders Liverpool.
