An Irish newspaper made an alarming blunder my mistaking rapper Stormzy for Romelu Lukaku on the back page of its Monday newspaper.The Herald used a photo of the grime star with the headline: “Lukaku is ready for work.”Lukaku is set to be announced as a Manchester United player after completing a medical ahead of a £75 million move from Everton.There is a photoshopped image of Lukaku in a Man United shirt but no official images have been released just yet.But the Herald mistakenly used a photo of Stormzy in a Man United tracksuit, which he would be wearing because he supports the Red Devils.
Stormzy has pointed out the similarities to Lukaku in the past, writing on Twitter in 2014: “So man are out ere calling me Lukaku”.
And when asked about the likeness earlier in the year, the grime artist said, per the BBC: “I'm not going to lie, every time I see him, I just look at it and think… yeah, you do mate."
Stormzy has responded on Twitter
But for a newspaper to actually mistake Stormzy for Lukaku is entirely wrong, as the 23-year-old has pointed out with his emotional reaction on Twitter.
“I don't find none of this funny btw 🤷ðŸ¿â™‚ï¸ don't wanna sound like the party pooper who missed the joke…,” Stormzy wrote.
When one of Stormzy’s followers responded by telling him that he and Lukaku do look alike, he wrote: “Yeah I defo agree bro not saying I don’t”.
The Herald have apologised
The Herald have issued an apology on their website, writing: “Hands up, we got it badly wrong.
“Earlier, we made an error with a picture of Romelu Lukaku that wasn't him. It was Stormzy.
“To be honest, we are totally embarrassed and want to say sorry to all involved and our readers for the error. We will keep our eye on the ball in future.”
The journalist who wrote the story, Carl Markham, has moved to separate himself from the blame.
“Just to be clear, I am an agency journalist and had no involvement in the selection of the picture,” Markham wrote.
Stormzy is a huge Man United fan
The photo that the Herald used of Stormzy came from an interview he did last year with Soccer Bible, in which he discussed his love for Man United.
"Do you know what yeah, people give me stick for it, but it was the whole being a seven or eight year old kid and there being this team who wore a red kit, had a massive stadium and would come out every week winning matches and winning titles,” he said.
“There was a certain spirit and energy about them that just gripped me, before I even knew what dedicating your life to a team meant. I just thought, ‘Yeah I like this team, I want to be a part of what’s happening here’.
“So yeah, I was gripped by the fever from a young age."