Jordan Lukaku will be 18 next month. Unlike his elder brother at that age, he’s not a regular in the Anderlecht first team. Also unlike his brother, he’s an extremely confident young man. Not that Romelu is a shrinking violet, but young Jordan likes to take life head on.
Competition: Jordan with Olivier Deschacht just behind and Jova on his right.
Towards the end of last season, Jordan made his debut in the first team. He made a few appearances at left back, primarily due to an injury to Behrang Safari and Olivier Deschacht’s loss of form/injuries. The Belgian media gave him high marks for his first few games but I was not as impressed as they were. He looked good going forward but left a lot to be desired when it came to defending.
The point now is that Jordan aims to make his name at the Constant Vanden Stock stadium. He’s told reporters that he does not want to answer any questions about his elder brother: he wants to be his own man. Jordan told La Dernière Heure that he wants to impress new coach John Van den Brom and get into the first team; “It’s not as if my competitors (for the left back position) are impossible to replace. I don’t want to be disrespectful but I believe I can put them on the bench.” It’s not sure how Swedish international Safari and ex-captain Deschacht have reacted to that statement.
As I said, young Jordan looks good going forward and can be considered as a candidate for a position further up field. It would be interesting to see the reactions if Van den Brom opted for a 4-4-2 with Jordan on the left wing and a certain Milan Jovanovic on the bench.