Breaking News: Jose Mourinho has bought Romelu Lukaku to be his powerful penalty-box poacher… and here's why Manchester United supporters can expect to see more crosses than ever next season

Jose Mourinho has bought Romelu Lukaku to be his powerful penalty-box poacher… and here's why Manchester United supporters can expect to see more crosses than ever next season.

• Manchester United signed Romelu Lukaku from Everton for £75m this month

• Lukaku has scored the vast majority of his goals from inside the penalty area

• Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a larger percentage of goals from outside the box

• The Red Devils were fourth in the Premier League for crosses last season

Manchester United managed 15 draws last season - their most ever in the Premier League - and Jose Mourinho thinks he knows why. 

As far as he was concerned, with one of the world's greatest goalkeepers in David de Gea and a tight defence, the issue was up front. 

The forwards were there, but the goals weren't. 

You have four creative players, four players who you need to score a goal for you, and they didn't,' Mourinho said in April. 

'They had flashes, they had glimpses, they had moments but they don't have consistency, and we pay two more points for that.' 

He was talking about Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who between them scored 14 times in the league last season. 

And the criticism continued a week later, when he had another dig. 'It is obvious we do not score enough goals,' Mourinho said.  'We have the chances but we don't convert enough.' 

This was perhaps Mourinho poking Ed Woodward in the ribs and it worked, because he now has a £75million man who he hopes will turn those dull draws into wins.

Romelu Lukaku has scored 71 goals in the last three seasons in all competitions and 94 per cent of those were from inside the area. That's his territory. 

Unlike Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has scored 17 from outside of the box in the same time, Lukaku strictly tends to stick to 18 yards or less.

He is one of the Premier League's top penalty-box poachers – and he is likely to get his chance to prove that at Old Trafford.

Last season, United were fourth in the Premier League for crosses (849), as only Swansea (864), Crystal Palace (872) and Southampton (948) made more. 

Mourinho's team only converted 1.2 per cent of their crosses into goals, however, and that's where Lukaku could come in. 

United's total number of crosses will only increase if they sign Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic, after all. Perisic provided a staggering 203 crosses from the wing in Serie A last season.