Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke tips Romelu Lukaku to score 30 goals this season

Manchester United legend Dwight Yorke believes his old club's big-money summer signing in Romelu Lukaku could score 30 goals this season.

Lukaku joined United from Everton in an initial £75m ($96.5m) deal last summer with high hopes that he could provide the firepower up front to help the club win a first league title since 2013.

The Belgian started life at Old Trafford spectacularly with 11 goals in his first 10 games for the club in all competitions.

However, Lukaku later suffered a blip in his goal-scoring form as he only managed four goals from October to December. The 24-year-old subsequently received a lot of criticism, with the Red Devils slowly slipping behind Manchester City in the Premier League table.

However, he has started 2018 with his scoring boots on again with two goals in two appearances, and Yorke believes Lukaku – who currently has 17 goals in all competitions – could give the club a good return on his price tag if he goes on to score 30 goals this season.

"I think he has done really well," Yorke told Omnisport via FourFourTwo. "Sometimes people can be unfair in terms of the numbers and the consistency but that is often enough when you go for a huge price tag and play for the likes of Manchester United – you are under certain scrutiny at certain times and you have got to be consistent.

"I think that for me, looking at him, I always felt he was the right buy for us and he has already scored double figures – 16 or 17 goals already – and we are only at the halfway mark. If he continues in that vein, then he is going to get close to 30-plus goals and I think that is a pretty good return."

Yorke adds that Lukaku is always going to be judged on his goals, but the former striker has backed the Belgian international to cope with the pressure of leading the line at United and continue to improve at Old Trafford.

"At the end of the day, being a striker in that position, you are always going to be judged on the number of goals and I am sure he is on course to do that, although people still point the finger at whether he is good enough or not," Yorke said.

"But I have no doubt, he is still a young man and is developing and will get better as the years go by and with the expectation of being at Manchester United."