Premier League: Romelu Lukaku to curtail post-World Cup vacation to help understaffed Manchester United

Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku has curtailed his vacation and will join Manchester United at the start of their Premier League campaign, manager Jose Mourinho has said. [caption id=“attachment_4579461” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Romelu Lukaku enjoyed a decent World Cup campaign with Belgium, reaching the semi-finals. AP[/caption] Mourinho called for the club’s World Cup participants to shorten their rest days after last month’s tournament to help United, who have also been hindered by injuries, avoid a poor start to the league season. England duo Phil Jones and Marcus Rashford were already set to return early and United will now be boosted by Lukaku’s decision as they prepare to host Leicester City in their first league game on 10 August. “We will have (Victor) Lindelof who started training two days ago,” Mourinho said after United’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the pre-season International Champions Cup (ICC) on Wednesday, adding, “Marcus Rashford, Jones and Lukaku, because they gave to the group and to the team three days of their holidays, so they are coming back three days early to try to be available for the team.” United have won two of their five pre-season fixtures so far and will be keen to make a quick start in their quest to win silverware this season. Mourinho was unsure, however, if Anthony Martial would return in time to play Sunday’s final friendly against Bayern Munich after the Frenchman left the team’s pre-season tour early to attend the birth of his daughter.