Romelu Lukaku’s best friend tells of Belgian star’s racism struggle – and his love for his mother

Belgian star Romelu Lukaku struggled against racism at school and was always blamed in any fight because he was ‘that big black boy’, his best friend has told Mail Online.

Vinnie Frans, who started kicking a ball around with Lukaku on wasteland near their council homes at the age of six, said his friend had known nothing but obstacles on his way to success. 

Never-before-seen pictures of the 25-year-old star obtained by the MailOnline show  Lukaku’s early life in an unremarkable suburb of Antwerp, where he lived in a modest house and was far happier playing football than doing his homework.

The 6ft 3ins striker has been the player of the World Cup so far for Belgium, who play England in their final group match tonight.

Although Lukaku signed for £90 million for Manchester United million last year, he has told how his family were once so poor that his mother Adolphine was forced to water down the milk.

‘Romelu has known nothing but obstacles and opposition throughout his life,’ Vinnie told MailOnline. 

Belgian star Romelu Lukaku struggled against racism at school and was always blamed in any fight because he was ‘that big black boy’, his best friend Vinnie Frans (above with Lukaku) has told Mail Online

Never-before-seen pictures of the 25-year-old obtained by the MailOnline show Lukaku's early life in an unremarkable suburb of Antwerp (above), where he lived in a modest house and was far happier playing football than doing his homework

Never-before-seen pictures of the 25-year-old obtained by the MailOnline show Lukaku’s early life in an unremarkable suburb of Antwerp (above), where he lived in a modest house and was far happier playing football than doing his homework

Vinnie, who started kicking a ball around with Lukaku on wasteland near their council homes at the age of six, said his friend had known nothing but obstacles on his way to success but was devoted to his mother (above)

Vinnie, who started kicking a ball around with Lukaku on wasteland near their council homes at the age of six, said his friend had known nothing but obstacles on his way to success but was devoted to his mother (above)

The 6ft 3ins striker has been the player of the World Cup so far for Belgium, who play England in their final group match tonight. Pictured: Lukaku wearing the no 11 shirt, aged 7, when he played for Rupel Boom Football Club in Belgium

The 6ft 3ins striker has been the player of the World Cup so far for Belgium, who play England in their final group match tonight. Pictured: Lukaku wearing the no 11 shirt, aged 7, when he played for Rupel Boom Football Club in Belgium

Although Lukaku signed for £90 million for Manchester United million last year, he has told how his family were once so poor that his mother was forced to water down the milk. Pictured: The council house where Lukaku grew up

Although Lukaku signed for £90 million for Manchester United million last year, he has told how his family were once so poor that his mother was forced to water down the milk. Pictured: The council house where Lukaku grew up

'Romelu has known nothing but obstacles and opposition throughout his life,' his best friend Vinnie (above) told MailOnline

‘Romelu has known nothing but obstacles and opposition throughout his life,’ his best friend Vinnie (above) told MailOnline

‘At school if he was involved in a fight, he was condemned as guilty, because he was ‘that big black boy’. 

‘But he was the best-behaved boy I knew, he never hurt a fly. It was always others who started it, often with racist insults.

‘But everything Romelu has done has been for his mother.’

Vinnie, an amateur footballer, gave MailOnline a guided tour around Wintam, on the outskirts of suburb of Antwerp, showing the bakery where Lukau’s mother would have to borrow bread until she could afford to pay for it.

He described a life where he, Lukaku and the player’s younger brother would try to wriggle out of studying so they could play football.

‘We were the only kids in the class who did not do our homework,’ he said. ‘We would come home put on our track suits and go straight out to play football.

‘My mum used to say; “you can’t go out until you have done your homework!”

‘So all three of us would sit around the table and rush through our work and then we would go out and play.’

He added: ‘My mum was like his second mother. He did not knock at the door, he would just come in through the back door.

‘We were in and out of each other’s houses all the time. My mum could tell that the family were struggling and she tried to help.

‘Other people in the street said it was not their problem but my mum did everything she could to help them.’

Vinnie, an amateur footballer, (right) gave MailOnline a guided tour around Wintam, on the outskirts of suburb of Antwerp. He remains close to Lukaku  (above) and has been invited along on glamorous foreign holidays with other footballing superstars including Paul Pogba

Vinnie, an amateur footballer, (right) gave MailOnline a guided tour around Wintam, on the outskirts of suburb of Antwerp. He remains close to Lukaku  (above) and has been invited along on glamorous foreign holidays with other footballing superstars including Paul Pogba

Vinnie said Lukaku regularly got the blame in fights at school: 'He was condemned as guilty, because he was 'that big black boy'. But he was the best-behaved boy I knew, he never hurt a fly.' Vinnie said Lukaku is devoted to his mother' (above with Lukaku and his father Roger)

Vinnie said Lukaku regularly got the blame in fights at school: ‘He was condemned as guilty, because he was ‘that big black boy’. But he was the best-behaved boy I knew, he never hurt a fly.’ Vinnie said Lukaku is devoted to his mother’ (above with Lukaku and his father Roger)

Vinnie, Lukaku, and the player's younger brother Jordan would try to wriggle out of studying so they could play football (above)

Vinnie, Lukaku, and the player’s younger brother Jordan would try to wriggle out of studying so they could play football (above)

Describing their poverty, Lukaku said his mother would have to borrow bread until she could afford to pay for it from the local bakery (above)

Describing their poverty, Lukaku said his mother would have to borrow bread until she could afford to pay for it from the local bakery (above)

Vinnie remains close to Lukaku and has been invited along on glamorous foreign holidays with other footballing superstars including Paul Pogba.

He added: ‘Rom has been very careful with his money.

‘His dad made some bad investments and he wants to make sure he has money put away. In fact he saves 60 per cent of what he earns straight away.

‘He has bought his mum a nice apartment in Brussels. He is very close to her.

‘He is not so close to his dad. His parents split up and they are divorced a couple of years ago.’  

Lukaku has spoken movingly about his fight out of poverty and his battle against critics who questioned his right to play in his native-Belgium.

He said: ‘I wanted to be the best footballer in Belgian history. Not good. Not great. The best. I played with so much anger, because of the rats running around in our apartment, because I couldn’t watch the Champions League, because of how the other parents used to look at me.’ 

Lukaku revealed the family lived for weeks without electricity and how there was no hot water to wash in after matches.

And he told how aged just 12 years old he vowed to look after his beloved mother Adolphine, in the last phone call to his maternal grandfather, who died five days later in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the family originate from.

Lukaku has spoken movingly about his fight out of poverty and his battle against critics who questioned his right to play in his native-Belgium (above as a seven-year-old in the Rupel Boom Football Club in Belgium)

Lukaku has spoken movingly about his fight out of poverty and his battle against critics who questioned his right to play in his native-Belgium (above as a seven-year-old in the Rupel Boom Football Club in Belgium)

He said: 'I wanted to be the best footballer in Belgian history. Not good. Not great. The best. I played with so much anger, because of the rats running around in our apartment, because I couldn't watch the Champions League, because of how the other parents used to look at me'

He said: ‘I wanted to be the best footballer in Belgian history. Not good. Not great. The best. I played with so much anger, because of the rats running around in our apartment, because I couldn’t watch the Champions League, because of how the other parents used to look at me’

Born in Antwerp, Lukaku, is the oldest son of Roger Lukaku, a professional footballer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who had been lured to Belgium to play for second division club FC Boom

Born in Antwerp, Lukaku, is the oldest son of Roger Lukaku, a professional footballer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who had been lured to Belgium to play for second division club FC Boom

'Roger Lukaku had nothing,' Erwin Wosky, (above) Lukaka's first coach when he played Rupel Boom, aged seven, told Mail Online. 'He came from Africa to play football in Belgium with just the clothes on his back'

‘Roger Lukaku had nothing,’ Erwin Wosky, (above) Lukaka’s first coach when he played Rupel Boom, aged seven, told Mail Online. ‘He came from Africa to play football in Belgium with just the clothes on his back’

Born in Antwerp, Romelu, is the oldest son of Roger Lukaku, a professional footballer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who had been lured to Belgium to play for second division club FC Boom.

But playing for FC Boom and other small Belgian clubs, Roger failed to earn enough to put money aside for when his football career ended abruptly in 1999.

He also squandered what little savings he had on bad investments, a family friend told MailOnline.

‘Roger Lukaku had nothing,’ Erwin Wosky, Lukaka’s first coach when he played Rupel Boom, aged seven, told Mail Online.

But playing for FC Boom and other small Belgian clubs, Roger failed to earn enough to put money aside for when his football career ended abruptly in 1999. He also squandered what little savings he had on bad investments, a family friend told MailOnline

But playing for FC Boom and other small Belgian clubs, Roger failed to earn enough to put money aside for when his football career ended abruptly in 1999. He also squandered what little savings he had on bad investments, a family friend told MailOnline

‘He came from Africa to play football in Belgium with just the clothes on his back. He played for FC Boom and got the team promoted to the first division by scoring lots of goals.

‘FC Boom gave him clothes and got him an old car. FC Boom gave him a little job as a trainer after he finished playing.

‘And it is because of FC Boom that the family got their house.’

‘It was nothing like footballers’ pay today but Roger was treated ok,’ a close family friend told MailOnline.

‘But he sent a lot of money back to Congo to support his family. And he made some bad investments.’

In a heart-rending first-person account to The Players’ Tribune, Lukaku described the family’s descent into poverty.

‘I remember the exact moment I knew we were broke,’ he wrote. ‘I can still picture my mum at the refrigerator and the look on her face.

In a heart-rending first-person account to The Players' Tribune, Lukaku described the family's descent into poverty. 'I remember the exact moment I knew we were broke,' he wrote. 'I can still picture my mum (above together this year) at the refrigerator and the look on her face'

In a heart-rending first-person account to The Players’ Tribune, Lukaku described the family’s descent into poverty. ‘I remember the exact moment I knew we were broke,’ he wrote. ‘I can still picture my mum (above together this year) at the refrigerator and the look on her face’

Having promised himself he would make it as a footballer, Lukaku signed for Anderlecht, Belgium's top side, on 13 May 2009. He then moved to the English premier league, playing for Chelsea and Everton, before signing for Manchester United for a record £90 million in 2017

Having promised himself he would make it as a footballer, Lukaku signed for Anderlecht, Belgium’s top side, on 13 May 2009. He then moved to the English premier league, playing for Chelsea and Everton, before signing for Manchester United for a record £90 million in 2017

He scored 50 goals in the Premier League before his 23rd birthday, one of only five players to have done so and is now Belgium's all-time record scorer with 40 goals.

He scored 50 goals in the Premier League before his 23rd birthday, one of only five players to have done so and is now Belgium’s all-time record scorer with 40 goals.

‘I was six years old and I came home for lunch during our break at school.

‘I walked into the kitchen and saw my mum with the box of milk, like normal. But this time she was mixing something in with it.

‘She was mixing water in with the milk. We didn’t have enough money to make it last the whole week.

‘We were broke. Not just poor, but broke. My father had been a pro footballer, but he was at the end of his career and all the money was gone.’

Having promised himself he would make it as a footballer, Lukaku signed for Anderlecht, Belgium’s top side, on 13 May 2009.

He then moved to the English premier league, playing for Chelsea and Everton, before signing for Manchester United for a record £90 million in 2017.

He scored 50 goals in the Premier League before his 23rd birthday, one of only five players to have done so and is now Belgium’s all-time record scorer with 40 goals.

His brother Jordan had the support to allow him to flourish as a footballer and now plays for Italian Serie A team Lazio as a defender. Only an injury has kept him out of the Belgium’s World Cup squad.

 

 



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk