In an interview with Thierry Henry last month, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku identified the ability to “create a goal out of nowhere” as the biggest difference between him and his world class contemporaries like Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero and Karim Benzema. His self observations add another perspective to the current narrative of the South American striker playing with a creativity and improvisation of the street in contrast to his counterpart developed at an European academy lacking this match winning x-factor.

Henry emphasizes this idea of creativity throughout the interview, and at one point asks Lukaku if he could score the type of goal where he has to retrieve the ball himself from midfield after having not touched it for 15 minutes (Henry has a highlight reel of scoring goals when opposition defense is organized). The question also reveals how Henry categorizes a world class striker - not just a clinical striker who can finish a structured movement with a goal, but in the ability to create one.

Lukaku displayed something of that characteristic with his goal against Manchester City in mid-October. Receiving the ball in space on the left wing with only Gael Clichy to beat, Lukaku displayed a burst of pace and a clinical side net finish that would have made Henry proud. The combination of his speed, power, and finishing enamored scouts since he lead the Belgium league in goals as a 16 year old, leading Chelsea to sign him two seasons later. Considering the opponent and the circumstances, it was Lukaku’s most impressive goal this season - even more than any in his 11 minute hat trick to break a 13 game scoring drought. After all, he tells Henry that with clever movement, he’ll always have chances to score. It’s the “something out of nothing” part that he works on in training.     

Lukaku mentions Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o as his influences from the previous generation. In context to today’s discussions of the dearth of strikers outside of South America, this geographic diversity from the early 2000s shows how the game has evolved throughout the past decade. Clinical, technical, and tactical, the four strikers Lukaku mentioned would no doubt lead a line today, but it is fair to wonder how they differently their skills and careers would have developed in this current age of counter pressing and counter attacking. Perhaps an even more pertinent question is where the next Anelka or Eto’o is being developed right now.

With both players standing around 6’3, the comparison between Lukaku and Drogba was easy to make years ago - although it’s also a cautionary tale in the dangers of categorizing a player too soon at the expense of that player’s development. The two have had vastly different careers for one: whereas Lukaku became just the five player under 20 years old to score 50 Premier League goals this season, Drogba was in Ligue 2 at that age. Drogba was 26 by the time he moved to Chelsea and became the best hold up player of his generation. Despite his height, Lukaku struggled to learn how to become a target striker last season under his former club and current club manager Roberto Martinez, preferring to use his pace to run behind defenders.

The topic of Belgium’s youth academy leading to the country’s current Golden Age of soccer has been much studied and emulated. Especially in relation to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 European Championships, their attack was as individually skilled and creative as any side in the respective tournaments. With a restructured national development program reminiscent of Germany, Belgium has seemingly found the hallowed middle ground between academy technique and unstructured imagination. Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and increasingly Yannick Carrasco have the creativity to conjure space out of nothing, to score the Henry-esque goals that Lukaku seeks.

Similar to his teammates, Lukaku struggled to reproduce his club form at the international level. He scored just two goals in Belgium’s five matches at last summer’s European Championships. Their quarterfinal loss lead many to question whether Belgium are ever going to be a good team, or if they’re only a collection of good footballers, especially in context to losses against Wales and Italy, and lead to manager Marc Wilmots’ dismissal after four seasons. Martinez was a surprise choice as Belgium manager. And while the video shows one truth, and Lukaku admitted Martinez lost the Everton dressing room, it’s clear in his conversation with Henry that the Lukaku improved under the manager, especially in his hold up play.

Despite the fractured relationship at the end of the season, Lukaku finished fourth in Premier League goals last season with 18, behind Harry Kane, Kun Aguero, and Jamie Vardy. Aguero beat Lukaku by a year in making his professional debut at 15 years old, but it’s Kane who present similar scenarios in the windy road of becoming a top level striker (both are also the same age). After signing for Chelsea, he sparsely played before being sent on loan to West Brom in 2012, eventually finding his way to Everton permanently in 2014. Kane went on loan four separate occasions before breaking through at Tottenham. If a certain adversity is lost in developing in an academy, perhaps something else was gained in their experience playing for different clubs, and in Lukaku’s case, away from expectations and comparisons.

Lukaku is currently second in Premier League goals this season with six through nine matches. Under first year manager Ronald Koeman, Lukaku says he’s learning about the importance of focus. Conventional wisdom puts a striker’s prime somewhere between 26 and 28 years old, and Lukaku has the tools to be England’s top scorer this season. But with Lukaku, it’s not a question of goals as he’s proven he can score: it’s about whether he can add that extra bit, the ability to create out of nothing, or if it’s too late. That variable determines Lukaku’s overall ceiling. Strikers, and analysts, from around the world will be watching.