Series A Superstar 'Very Good' But Not Like Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Italian Legend Says

Italian soccer legend Paolo Di Canio doesn’t put Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku on the same footing as Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

During his playing years, Di Canio has been known for his bad temper and bold comments. In one of his most recent interviews, he weighed in on Lukaku’s form this season in the Serie A.

According to the former Juventus forward, Lukaku has the potential to become a great competitor on the football pitch. But for Di Canio, the 27-year-old has yet to prove if he belongs in the same elite cast with Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic.

“You don’t start 1-0 up with him [Lukaku], you don’t place him with [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo,” Di Canio recently told Sky Sport Italia. “There are the top players and the good guys, and Lukaku is very good.”

“He will do what he knows how to do, but I want to see him in important matches,” he continued. “He is a concrete player, functional to the team.”

Lukaku led Inter to a 4-2 victory over Torino on Saturday at San Siro. Aside from scoring a sensational brace, the Belgian star also provided an assist for Nerazzurri.

However, Di Canio still thinks that Lukaku is more of a ballhog than a team player.

“Lukaku is different, he wants the ball on him,” the 52-year-old stated.

Ibrahimovic and Lukaku have developed a rivalry representing Milan’s Serie A clubs. The latter proclaimed himself as the new “King of Milan” earlier this year following an impressive derby performance.

As expected, Ibra responded and said, "Milano never had a king, they have a god” after also leading AC Milan to a derby win last month.

At 39, the Swede hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down in terms of goal scoring. In fact, he just made himself the fourth player to net a goal in the first six league games of the Italian top-flight season.

Ibrahimovic continued his six-game Serie A scoring streak with an opening goal against Napoli on Sunday. Even more interesting, the veteran striker also became the oldest player to score at least 10 goals in the first eight matchdays of the current campaign.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, proves that COVID-19 didn’t do any damage to his game. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner amassed his 70th home goal in the UEFA Champions League with his first-half strike against Ferencvaros on Tuesday.

In the process, Ronaldo tied the record haul by his ultimate rival, Lionel Messi.

The 35-year-old has now extended his tally to 131 Champions League goals across just 172 games . Ronaldo has also been on fire since the start of the Serie A season for Juventus, registering eight goals in just five games.