Ronald Koeman expects Everton fans to support Romelu Lukaku
Saturday 18 March 2017 17:39, UK
Ronald Koeman expects Everton fans to be fully behind Romelu Lukaku despite the striker’s unwillingness to extend his contract.
Sky sources understand Lukaku has told Everton he will not accept their current offer to extend his stay at Goodison Park despite the 23-year-old's agent Mino Raiola claiming in December the deal was "99.9% done". Talks are expected to continue between the two parties.
In an interview earlier this week, Lukaku expressed his frustration at Everton's failure to land big-name players in recent transfer windows and appeared to question the club's ambition.
Everton host Hull on Saturday afternoon but Koeman does not expect a backlash from supporters against Lukaku, who is the Premier League's joint-top scorer with 19 goals this season.
Asked if he was concerned Everton fans may jeer the Belgian, Koeman said: "I don't think so because we need the support - every player who is starting needs the support.
"If the player shows his commitment in his football, then everybody can make mistakes. Then you realise it's no problem.
"But I think everybody needs to understand ambitions, and his situation I tried to explain - he's a professional player and his commitment maybe looks different because of two or three quotes in the press but he is young and we can see these things."
Despite losing summer signing Yannick Bolasie to a season-ending injury in December, Everton are seventh in the table on 47 points, having already equalled their tally for the whole of the last campaign.
Koeman believes this is the clearest indication that the club is heading in the right direction, pointing to the example of Tottenham who look on course to qualify for the Champions League for the second year in succession.
"If I look to this season so far, I think we can make the next step next season," said Koeman. "If we can move on and get in what we want to make the team really strong, I think we can battle with them [the top four], yes.
"See the difference between this season and last season. That's the first step. We have the same points now than last season. Can we show more ambition, stronger team, more points? Everybody knows you can't do this in one year.
"It takes time. How long did it take for Tottenham to be where they are now? Three or four years. You can't do it one year."
