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Romelu Lukaku's new agent says he shouldn't have signed with Everton

Romelu Lukaku's new agent, Mino Raiola, claims he should not have signed a deal with Everton and that he would have produced like Diego Costa had he stayed at Chelsea.
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Romelu Lukaku's new agent, Mino Raiola, claims he should not have signed a deal with Everton and that he would have produced like Diego Costa had he stayed at Chelsea.

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​Raiola, the powerful agent who also represents the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli and Paul Pogba, reportedly told Belgian outlet Sudpresse that Lukaku wouldn't have made the move to Everton had he signed with him earlier. Lukaku left previous agent Christophe Henrotay for Raiola, a move that Everton manager Roberto Martinez claimed made no difference to his standing with the club. 

Raiola said:

“If we had met each other earlier, he wouldn’t have played for Everton. Maybe somewhere else, maybe he would still be at Chelsea. I want to be clear: Romelu is a better striker than Diego Costa and could have done the same as the Spaniard did this season. But the Chelsea directors had decided to buy another star than giving confidence to one of their young boys.

“Juventus was interested in him last summer but I want to be clear: I don’t think one of the Italian teams can pay that amount of money for one player. It’s almost impossible. We have never said he would leave at the end of this season. We will see what happens in the summer, but the Everton directors don’t have to think Rom will play there for the rest of his career. Later on, he’ll play for one of world’s best teams: PSG, Manchester City, Manchester United or Bayern Munich. Big names, but nothing is impossible as Rom has great potential."

Lukaku signed a five-year deal with Everton in the summer after playing on loan for the club from Chelsea last season. Lukaku, who scored 17 league goals on loan from Chelsea at West Brom in 2012-13, scored 15 for the Toffees in 2013-14. This season, Lukaku has 16 goals in all competitions–eight in league play, and eight in UEFA Europa League.