Jordan Lukaku

Anderlecht

Despite interests from Premier League side Arsenal, Lukaku signed his first professional contract with the club, keeping him until 2013. Having previously trained with the first team in the 2010–11 season, along with his brother (who then left the club for Chelsea at the time), Lukaku was first included in a senior matchday squad on 1 December 2011, remaining an unused substitute in Anderlecht's 2–1 win at AEK Athens in the group stage of that season's UEFA Europa League. His debut came the following 21 March against Zulte Waregem, which saw Anderlecht win 2–1; Lukaku later said after the match: "it was the best day of his life". He totalled six appearances as his team won the league that season, but did not play at all as they retained the title the following campaign, only making the bench twice. During the season, he missed out the start of the season, due to suffering a stress fracture. As he struggled in the first team, he was linked with a loan move to an unknown club in the Dutch Eredivisie, but rejected the move and was sent to the reserve team instead. On 21 July 2013, Lukaku came on as an 87th-minute substitute for Matías Suárez as Anderlecht won the 2013 Belgian Super Cup 1–0 against Genk at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. After appearing two matches at the start of the season, he announced his desire to leave the club to get regular first team football.

Oostende

Soon after playing in the Belgian Super Cup, Lukaku left Anderlecht to…

After previously representing Belgium at under-15, under-16, under-18 and under-19 levels, Lukaku rejected a chance to play for DR Congo in 2011, in favour of playing for Belgium instead. Following his impressive performance at Oostende, Lukaku was called by the senior team for the first team. On 10 October 2015, Lukaku made his senior debut for the national team in a 4–1 win in a Euro 2016 qualification match against Andorra; the victory qualified his team to the finals. In his next game on the following 29 March, he replaced Guillaume Gillet in the 59th minute of a friendly away to Portugal in Leiria, and sent in the cross that was headed in by his brother as consolation in a 2–1 loss. After being included for the a 24-man preliminary squad, Lukaku was selected for Euro 2016 squad, wearing shirt number 21. He made one appearance in the tournament, playing 75 minutes in place of the injured Jan Vertonghen in Belgium's 3–1 quarterfinal defeat to Wales. In May 2018, he was named in Belgium's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. However, he did not make the final 23.

Regarded as a promising player in his youth, Lukaku is a powerful left-footed attacking full-back. He primarily plays as a left-back, but has played in areas along the left side of the pitch as a wing-back, as a wide midfielder, or even as a winger in an attacking trident. He is particularly known for having a notable pace, as well as a high quality technique, crossing ability, physical strength, and stamina, which enables him to cover the flank effectively, get forward, exploit spaces, take on opponents, retain possession, and create chances for his teammates. He has drawn criticism at times from pundits over his tactical sense and the defensive aspect of this game, which have been cited as areas which have room for improvement. He has also faced injuries which have limited his playing time.

Lukaku was born in Antwerp. His father is Roger Lukaku, who played professional football and was capped at international level by Zaire. He has an older brother, Romelu Lukaku, who also progressed through the youth academy at Anderlecht. Their cousin Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo plays for Standard Liège. While at the youth academy at Anderlecht, Jordan, along with Romelu, were picked up by their father and taken to training every morning. Unlike his older brother, Jordan grew up supporting Arsenal. Around 2012, Jordan became a victim of fake profiling. It came after he was involved in a controversial situation, prompting angry responses from social media. In December 2014, Jordan Lukaku was charged with speeding and had his driving license revoked for fifteen days, as well as, being fined €600. The following month, his closest friend, Junior Malanda, was killed in a car crash. Three months later, he was charged with the same offence and was banned from driving for a year. He was given a final warning and told that if he did it again, he would be jailed. The following year, he was charged with the same offence for the third time and was banned from driving for fifteen months.