Lukaku on the bench, De Ketelaere and Fernandez‑Pardo preferred
What to do with Romelu Lukaku? The 33‑year‑old Belgian striker, playing in football, declared “fit 100 %”, was left out of the starting eleven against France, Charles De Ketelaere and Matias Fernandez‑Pardo being preferred, and his future in the national team darkens if he does not start against Turkey, according to Mark van Bommel. Yves Taildeman reminded the central question.
Van Bommel's choices against France
Mark van Bommel said the day before the match in Italy that “Lukaku trains with great hunger”, highlighting his recent arrival at his new club. He added that the Belgian needs to accumulate playing time to gradually regain his best form. In the duel against France, Lukaku spent the entire second half warming up, failed to make an impact after his clash with Gianluigi Donnarumma, and was forced to leave the pitch as early as the fifth substitution, replaced by Fernandez‑Pardo, often simply called Fernandez, for De Ketelaere. Van Bommel justified this choice by the need for speed on the counter‑attacks, describing the Newcastle striker as a “real rocket”.
A bench‑heavy past for Lukaku
Historically, Lukaku has spent the full 90 minutes on the bench sixteen times, often against modest teams such as Kazakhstan, San Marino, Andorra or Gibraltar, and the debate was widely discussed in Sports Football. Two of those absences occurred during World Cup group stages, against South Korea in 2014 and England in 2018, when the starters were rested. The last time he was not used in an official match dates back to March 2021 against Belarus (8‑0). Under Marc Wilmots, he was regularly overlooked in favor of Benteke, Origi or Nacer Chadli, notably against Croatia in 2012 and Macedonia in 2013, while under Roberto Martinez only two matches against small teams saw Lukaku on the bench, and Domenico Tedesco preferred Openda in Ireland, leaving the Red Devils to look for other solutions.
Red Devils gather in Sclessin ahead of clash with Turkey
Lack of playing time at club level
At club level, Lukaku struggles to get minutes: he did not play regularly in Naples during the 2025‑2026 season and only receives short spells of game time at Fenerbahçe, which explains why he is seen more as a pivot than as a quick scorer. This scarcity of playing time explains why he is seen more as a pivot than as a quick scorer. In an interview, he claimed to run at 35.5 km/h in training, recalling the speed that was once his main asset. Van Bommel highlighted that the other forwards in the Belgian system are more dynamic, constantly press and take part in defensive work, which makes them more suitable than Lukaku.
If Lukaku does not start against Turkey, his role within the Red Devils risks being further reduced, complicating his return to first‑choice status. Rom, nicknamed Big Rom, sees his future uncertain.