It has been confirmed that Romelu Lukaku has not been included in Manchester United’s squad to face Bournemouth. The Belgian forward has been out of form and out of shape recently and Jose Mourinho has now dropped him not just from the starting XI but from the squad completely.
It was reported that Lukaku had not travelled on the team plane down to Bournemouth and now it has been confirmed that he does indeed miss out. In his place, Anthony Martial, Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata will play as a front three as United look to have a more dynamic attack away from home.
Lukaku has not scored since mid-September a run which stretches back over his last nine league and cup matches for the club. During this run he has come in for a whole heap of criticism from United fans, with may pundits alike failing to see where the powerful goalscorer we saw at Everton has gone.
Mourinho has already said Lukaku is not confident at the moment so may have left him out in order to protect him from further abuse.
“The reason is he is playing lots of matches and lately, not just not scoring goals, but also not showing lots of confidence," said Mourinho.
"Sometimes we decide that the best thing for the players is to not be on the pitch, to be protected and away from the initial pressure."
Bournemouth will have to be wary of some potent United forwards although the Cherries have started the season in great form and currently sit sixth in the Premier League table.
