The former Red Devils defender acknowledges that the Belgian will always score goals, but has questioned his value to those at Old Trafford
Romelu Lukaku was never right for Manchester United, says Phil Neville, with the Belgian frontman having completed an €80 million (£74m/$90m) move to Inter.
Gary Neville has suggested that his attitude is not right, with the ex-England international’s brother claiming that the forward is not the right fit for the footballing philosophies ingrained in United’s psyche.
“He started well, didn’t he? He started well,” Phil Neville told PA Sport.
“I’ll be honest with you, I never felt as if he was a United centre forward. That was my feeling.
“But he started well, then obviously he lost a little bit of confidence and then found it difficult to get back up to form.
“I think there was always that feeling of was he fit enough? And was his style suited to playing football for Manchester United? That was my question.
“He’ll always score goals wherever he goes. He’ll score goals for Inter.
“But the way you want to play, you’ve got to fit the right people on the bus and Romelu Lukaku was never that person.”
Neville’s fellow Class of ’92 member, Paul Scholes, is also of the opinion that Lukaku did not fit the system at the Theatre of Dreams, particularly with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now trying to take the club back to its ball-playing roots while placing greater emphasis on youth.
He added: “I don’t think he was suited to Ole either.
“Ole wants someone with a bit of energy, a bit of speed, someone who is going to work hard [but] he’ll score goals.”
Lukaku leaves United having found the target 42 times in 96 appearances.