Romelu Lukaku has EVERYTHING you want from a centre-forward, insists Roberto Martinez

Roberto Martinez insists Romelu Lukaku is better than ever as he returns to Turin with Belgium out to avenge their World Cup semi-final defeat against France.

Lukaku has not scored in five games and was on the losing side at Juventus in the Champions League last week, when Antonio Conte caused a stir by claiming Chelsea have not yet worked out how to use their £97.5million record signing.

‘I started working with Romelu when he was 19,’ said Belgium boss Martinez, who was in charge at Everton when they first signed the striker on loan in 2013. ‘As with any player, I’ve seen an evolution.

Belgium manager Roberto Martinez (left) insists Romelu Lukaku (right) is better than ever

‘He can do everything you want from a striker. He can play with his back to goal or run in behind. He has power and intelligence. He has every single function you would want from a centre-forward.

‘His time in Italy with Inter Milan gave him another degree of maturity and this is a great moment in his career and the most outstanding thing about him is his goalscoring.

‘His conversion rate is exceptional. Look at his goals, he is already the record scorer for the national team, and you will get the best out of him when you put him in those positions.’

Lukaku has not scored in five games and was on the losing side at Juventus last week

However, Martinez insists Lukaku (left) has ‘everything’ you want in a centre-forward

Lukaku has scored 67 goals in 100 appearances for Belgium ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Nations League semi-final against France, the team that beat them in the World Cup semi-finals in 2018.

‘That was a big frustration,’ said Leicester’s Youri Tielemans. 

‘We don’t want to recall it too much. When you are so close you can almost touch it, it is tough. I hope this time we will be the team winning.’