Wally of the Week

While Manchester United completed the deal of the week in their move for Romelu Lukaku, it was the reaction of others to this bid that dominates Wally of the Week. From the club who thought they had a deal done for the striker to a newspaper covering the news. We’ll throw in a bad first impression as well, just for good measure.

3. Theo Hernandez

French left-back, Theo Hernandez, sealed a move from Atletico Madrid to Real Madrid this week after impressing during a season on loan at Alaves. As is tradition at Real, new signings hold a press conference and then head out to the pitch at the Bernabeu to be presented to the fans in their new kit. A large crowd had gathered inside the stadium and it was time for Hernandez to show them a few skills with a ball, nothing difficult, just a few keepy-uppies. Hernandez began juggling the ball but could only manage a couple of keepy-uppies before losing control of the ball and just hoofing it upwards and catching it after – an embarrassing act. You could have mistaken him with any old bloke from down the pub.

2. Chelsea FC

The West London club were so sure that they’d get their man in Lukaku that Antonio Conte texted Diego Costa, telling him that he could leave the club. Now that Manchester United have beaten them to their former player, Costa no longer feels wanted and Chelsea are left with just Michy Batshuayi as their only centre-forward. Not only did Lukaku leave for a rival in Manchester United but for former Blues boss, Jose Mourinho, who sold Lukaku to Everton during his second stint at the club. After reports of United’s bid for the Belgian, Chelsea matched their bid only to be told that Lukaku and his agent had chosen the Red Devils instead. Not a good week for the Chelsea PR team and it was made worse by that ghastly unveiling video for Antonio Rudiger.

1. The Irish Herald

After Lukaku had been linked with United, the days between the reports of their £75m bid and the confirmation of the signing prompted jokes about Lukaku’s likeness to grime artist and United fan, Stormzy. The two look very similar and, with Stormzy’s role in Pogba’s announcement last year, fans were speculating if the two would appear in a similar stunt for Lukaku’s arrival.

The Irish Herald (in, you guessed it, Ireland) either took these jokes too far or were simply incompetent and naïve. I’m going for the latter because they ran an article on Lukaku’s move to United on the front page of their sport section which included a large image of Stormzy with the caption; ‘New Manchester United signing Romelu Lukaku’. Really guys?