Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli was born on 13 May 1993 in Antwerp, Belgium, and came through the youth systems of Rupel Boom, KFC Wintam, Lierse and Anderlecht. A centre-forward, he is the son of Roger Lukaku, a former Zaire international, and the older brother of Jordan Lukaku, who also became a footballer. He became Belgium's all-time leading scorer and played at the 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 World Cups. He has played for Fenerbahçe since August 2026.
Lukaku played for Rupel Boom from 1999 to 2003, spent a season at KFC Wintam and stayed at Lierse until 2006, when he joined the Anderlecht academy. He signed his first professional contract on his 16th birthday, 13 May 2009. Eleven days later he made his Belgian top-flight debut against Standard Liège, a 1-0 defeat in the title play-offs. He became a regular up front in 2009-10. Anderlecht won the league and he finished as the league's top scorer with 15 goals.
Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Everton
Chelsea signed him on a five-year contract in August 2011. He played little in his first season in London and spent 2012-13 on loan at West Bromwich Albion, where he scored 17 league goals in 35 appearances. Three of them came on 19 May 2013 in a 5-5 draw with Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson's last match as manager. He spent the next season on loan at Everton and scored 15 league goals in 31 games. In July 2014 Everton signed him permanently for £28 million, which was then a club record. He was named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2017.
Manchester United and Inter
Manchester United signed him on 10 July 2017 for an initial £75 million. He reached 100 Premier League goals in March 2018 and played in that season's FA Cup final, which United lost to Chelsea. On 8 August 2019 he joined Inter. In his first season in Italy, Inter reached the Europa League final, where they lost 3-2 to Sevilla, and he was named the competition's player of the season. In 2020-21 Inter won Serie A for the first time in eleven years, and Lukaku was voted the league's Most Valuable Player.
Return to Chelsea and loans to Inter and Roma
On 12 August 2021 he returned to Chelsea for £97.5 million, the highest fee the club had ever paid. He won the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup with Chelsea. The tournament was played in February 2022, and he scored in the final against Palmeiras. On 29 June 2022 he rejoined Inter on loan. He won the 2022 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2022-23 Coppa Italia, which Inter took by beating Fiorentina 2-1 on 24 May 2023. That season he also played in the Champions League final, which Manchester City won 1-0. On 31 August 2023 he joined Roma on a season-long loan and scored 13 goals in 32 Serie A games. His first goal for the club came in a 7-0 win over Empoli.
Napoli
Napoli signed him from Chelsea on 29 August 2024 for around €30 million. The move reunited him with Antonio Conte, who had coached him at Inter during their title-winning season. On his debut against Parma he scored a stoppage-time equaliser, and Napoli went on to win 2-1. On 23 May 2025 he scored the second goal in a 2-0 win over Cagliari that secured Napoli's fourth Serie A title, and he was named in the league's Team of the Season. A left thigh injury in pre-season in 2025 kept him out for several months.
Belgium national team
Lukaku made his Belgium debut on 3 March 2010 in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Croatia in Brussels. He scored his first two international goals against Russia on 17 November that year. In October 2013 he scored twice in Belgium's 2-1 win over Croatia in Zagreb, which qualified Belgium for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. At that tournament he scored in extra time of the round-of-16 win over the United States (2-1). At the 2018 World Cup in Russia he scored four goals and won the Bronze Boot as Belgium finished third. FIFA used his goal against Egypt on 6 June 2018 as the point at which it recognised him as Belgium's all-time top scorer. He also played at Euro 2016, Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 and at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. At the 2026 World Cup he scored in a 5-1 win over New Zealand. It was his sixth World Cup goal, one more than Marc Wilmots, and it made him Belgium's leading scorer in the tournament's history. Belgium went out in the quarter-finals, losing 2-1 to Spain on 10 July 2026.
Fenerbahçe
On 12 August 2026 Fenerbahçe announced that they had signed him from Napoli. It was his first club outside Belgium, England and Italy. He was presented in Istanbul on 14 August 2026.
Fenerbahçe