Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has said that he is willing to not select Inter striker Romelu Lukaku due to his thigh ailment.
In his last 60 international games, Lukaku has scored 57 goals, but hamstring problems have already derailed his 2022/23 club season.
Because of that problem and a new one with his thigh muscle, the 29-year-old has played in just four games for Inter across all competitions.
After a failed return to Chelsea, Lukaku is currently on loan with the Nerazzurri. He made his debut against Sampdoria at the end of October, but he has been sidelined for the games against Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Bologna this month.
The former Everton and Manchester United star were expected to participate in his third World Cup after being chosen in 2014 and 2018, but his participation is now uncertain.
Lukaku will only be selected by Martinez if he is healthy enough to play in at least one of Belgium’s three group games. Given that the Red Devils’ first-round match against Croatia is scheduled for December 1, he faces a tight deadline.
Lukaku will not travel to Qatar if team doctors believe he will not be healthy enough to compete in the knockout stages.
He is currently unavailable and under the care of medical professionals. Martinez told L’Equipe, “Romelu is a guy we need if he can ableable to play in one of the first three matches.”
We won’t have him around if he can’t participate in the group stage. We’re taking it day by day, but this is a medical choice at this point because we know him so well and have seen positive changes.
The time it takes to recover from a muscle injury, however, varies greatly from person to person. We need to make a choice soon since we have to hand over the roster of volunteers. He will join us on December 1 if he can go back to work by then. If not, then, no.
