Roberto Martinez has confirmed Romelu Lukaku will be unavailable for Belgium’s Euro qualifier against Russia as the forward is recuperating from a foot injury.
Lukaku didn’t feature in Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the FA Cup and set to miss out Thursday’s qualifying match. The 25 year old has been the undisputed number nine for his country since Martinez took charge and also led the attack in last year’s World Cup.
United haven’t issued any update on his injury but the player could be fit in time to face Cyprus on Sunday. Martinez said, “The relationship with Manchester United is very close. The only thing that matters is Romelu [Lukaku] is fully fit.
“We want him fit but it has to be in the right way. We’ve been happy with his progress but at the minute he is still unavailable.
“He is a player that has not been discovered overnight. He has been scoring goals since 16. He is already the top goalscorers in the history of Belgium football. Goalscorers will go through good and bad spells but he is history in Belgium football.
“He has to be fully fit though like any other player. We wouldn’t take a risk with any player on the pitch.”
