Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈroːmeːlu luˈkaːku]; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Napoli and the Belgium national team.

[8] Eleven days later, he made his Belgian First Division debut on 24 May 2009 in the championship play-off match against Standard Liège as a 69th-minute substitute for defender Víctor Bernárdez.

Lukaku became a regular member of Anderlecht's first team during the 2009–10 season, scoring his first goal at senior level against Zulte Waregem in the 89th minute after coming on as substitute for Kanu on 28 August 2009.

[15] However, Lukaku stressed he was disappointed with his involvement at the end of his debut season, revealing that, after his side's UEFA Champions League win in the final on 19 May, he refused to hold the trophy, explaining "it wasn't me, but my team that won".

[20] On 24 November, Lukaku came on as a 70th-minute substitute for Shane Long and netted a penalty and provided an assist to Marc-Antoine Fortuné, as West Brom defeated Sunderland 4–2 away at the Stadium of Light.

[22] On 12 January 2013, Lukaku had his first multi-goal game in the Premier League, giving West Brom a 2–0 lead against Reading, before a late comeback gave the Berkshire club a 3–2 victory at the Madejski Stadium.

He also came on as a substitute in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup, ultimately missing the deciding penalty in the shootout, as Manuel Neuer saved his shot and Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich.

[35] He continued his impressive start at the club by netting the opening goal in a 2–0 win over Aston Villa, and then scored twice in the first Merseyside derby of the season, as Everton drew 3–3 against Liverpool, with Lukaku stating afterwards it was the best experience he had had in his short career.

[36][37] In January 2014, Lukaku was named by The Guardian as one of the ten most promising young players in Europe,[38] but later in the month was taken off on a stretcher with an ankle ligament injury after Gareth Barry slipped and slid into the striker, as he attempted to block Steven Gerrard's opening goal in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool.

[41] On 6 April, he scored one goal and assisted another as Everton beat Arsenal 3–0 at Goodison Park to record a sixth consecutive Premier League win.

[48] In the second game of the 2015–16 Premier League season, Lukaku scored a first-half double in Everton's 3–0 win at Southampton on 15 August 2015 with his first two shots on target.

[69] In an interview, he questioned the club's ambition to make big transfers and chase Champions League qualification, offending his manager Ronald Koeman.

[95][96][97] He later mentioned the reasons for leaving Manchester United, by claiming that he was made a scapegoat alongside other players, such as Paul Pogba and Alexis Sánchez, in addition to club's failure to protect him against rumours about his future.

[98] Lukaku made his debut for Inter on 26 August in the opening Serie A matchday against Lecce, netting his side's third goal with his first shot in a 4–0 home win.

[106] On 2 November, Lukaku scored a brace in a 2–1 away win over Bologna in Serie A, which saw him match Ronaldo's record of nine goals in his first eleven league appearances for the club.

[108] In the final match at home against Barcelona, Lukaku scored his side's only goal in a 2–1 defeat, meaning that Inter transferred to Europa League for the second season in a row.

[115] On 5 August, Lukaku scored in a 2–0 win over Getafe in the Europa League's round of 16, helping his side reach the quarter-finals of a European competition for the first time since 2011.

[116] It was his 30th goal in all competitions, a new personal best, and he had also scored for the eighth consecutive Europa League match, equalling the all-time record set by Alan Shearer in 2004–05.

[117][118] In the quarter-finals on 10 August, he broke this record, scoring in his ninth consecutive match in the competition in a 2–1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in Düsseldorf, to send Inter into the semi-finals.

[126] On 26 January, Lukaku was involved in a confrontation with former Manchester United teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović in Inter's Coppa Italia quarter-final match against Milan.

Following a foul committed by Lukaku late in the first half, he and Ibrahimović could be heard exchanging insults as the pair clashed heads, and had to be restrained by their respective teammates.

[127] On 14 February, he scored a brace and got an assist against Lazio in a 3–1 victory, bringing his Serie A tally to 16 goals for the season, and equalling Cristiano Ronaldo as the league's top scorer.

[137][138] In late December, Lukaku stoked controversy when during an interview with Sky Italia, he reported being "not happy" with the situation at Chelsea, and that head coach Thomas Tuchel "has chosen to play with another system", comparing the teams tactics with that at Inter.

[157] On 10 June, he played in the 2023 Champions League final against Manchester City, but he was criticized for his performance in the game, missing a number of key chances after coming off the bench during the second half, as his side suffered a 1–0 defeat.

[179] On 10 November 2017, Lukaku equalled the all-time Belgium goalscoring record set by Bernard Voorhoof and Paul Van Himst, after scoring twice against Mexico in a 3–3 draw.

[181] Although this record was counted by the Royal Belgian Football Association,[182] FIFA initially only officially recognised 28 goals, after a nullified international friendly against Luxembourg on 26 May 2014, where he netted a hat trick in a 5–1 win, because the former Belgium coach, Marc Wilmots made seven substitutions during the match instead of the permitted six, which are not in accordance to the laws of the game.

The reality show followed the teenage Lukaku and his classmates during the course of a year at the Saint-Guidon Institute, a school in Brussels, where the footballer was based while with the Anderlecht youth team.

"[216] In addition to his native French and Dutch, Lukaku can speak fluent English, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and a Congolese Swahili dialect, and can also understand German.

[224] In 2020, Lukaku honoured George Floyd by kneeling and keeping one fist high in support of Black Lives Matter when he scored in a game with Inter against Sampdoria.

[225] This symbolic action was inspired by American football player Colin Kaepernick who kneeled during the national anthem before every game in 2016 as a peaceful manner of protest against police brutality towards people of colour.