€233m for Grealish and Lukaku: Who is the bigger waste of money?

Stuart Hodge

• Updated: 14 Jan 2022 07:23 CST
• 8 min read

More than half-a-season into the new campaign and two players stand out as being massive money flops from the summer transfer window.

Jack Grealish moved to Manchester City for €118m from Aston Villa and Romelu Lukaku returned to Chelsea for €115m – neither deal has been a success.

But which one of the title challengers has been burned the worst, based on the first six months of output?

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Not alright Jack…

Jack Grealish was linked with a move away from Aston Villa to a big club seemingly forever before departing Villa Park and landed the best possible ticket when Pep Guardiola decided to shell out the money to bring him to bolster a Manchester City side which had just claimed the Premier League title.

It seemed, on paper, to be a perfect match. Guardiola and City’s dynamic and technical style appeared well-moulded to Grealish’s game.

But it hasn’t worked. Guardiola has exigent demands of his players when it comes to movement, pressing and in terms of general standards of commitment and effort.

Not saying that Grealish has been lazy, but he hasn’t done enough to make himself a first-team regular for City. In three of his last four games, he hasn’t left the bench, with the exception being in a rotated team for the trip to Brentford.

He does have three goals and three assists in his 21 appearances so far, but his two strikes in the Premier League have come in the 5-0 and 7-0 demolitions of Norwich City and Leeds respectively so he still has to prove he can make a difference against the top sides.

Perhaps more concerning for City, is that Grealish and Phil Foden went on a night out following the 7-0 drubbing of Leeds and the club were said to be unhappy with the condition the players returned to the club in when they arrived for a recovery session the following day. His boss has shown in the past at Barcelona when he showed Ronaldinho the door, that he’s not prepared to tolerate a lack of professionalism off the field.

At 26, Grealish should know better, but time is still on his side and Guardiola is excellent at improving players over time, so if he buys in, there is still hope that Grealish can be a success at City.

In terms of the €118m fee though, the return has been very disappointing thus far.

Not Lukaku-ing good…

Romelu Lukaku going back to Chelsea was a no-brainer for the club, even with the big fee.

After storming it in Italy with Inter Milan, where he netted 64 goals in 95 games for the Nerazzurri, the Belgian returned to the same club he joined as a teenager just preparing to enter his prime.

And after three goals in his first Premier League games it seemed like money well spent.

But things soured for Lukaku after the blistering start. He twisted his ankle against Malmo and endured a profligate spell either side of that before being downed again by coronavirus.

Then came THAT interview.

In the on-camera chat with with Sky Italy, Lukaku said he was unhappy with his role at Chelsea and never wanted to leave Inter. He also said he would like to return to Inter Milan in the near future.

Boss Thomas Tuchel was less than impressed with the interview and he has also said that he wants him to train harder, work harder.

Lukaku’s body shape is notably not as lean as it was during his time at Inter and the pressure is on for the player to make good on the massive transfer fee.