Lukaku set for £73.9m Inter switch

Italian club increase offer to secure striker Solskjaer relaxed about finding replacement

Romelu Lukaku was on the verge of a £73.9million move to Inter Milan last night as Manchester United’s unsettled striker prepares to complete an acrimonious exit from Old Trafford.

Inter tabled an improved offer to United yesterday believed to be worth an initial £64.7million with a further £9.2million payable in addons as one of the summer’s most drawn-out transfer sagas neared a conclusion.

There are also reports that United – who rejected an opening bid of £54million from Inter last month – have insisted on a sell-on clause, given that Everton are due a £5million windfall under the terms of the deal that took Lukaku to Old Trafford from Goodison Park in 2017 if the transfer is formally completed.

United had been seeking a profit on their original £75million outlay.

Federico Pastorello, Lukaku’s agent, was in London yesterday for talks with United on Inter’s behalf after weeks of protracted negotiations, during which time the player’s relationship with United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has become strained.

Lukaku has been fined two weeks’ wages – in base salary terms about £230,000 – by United for missing training without permission this week as well as a controversial tweet last Friday in which he divulged confidential training data.

Lukaku, 26, angered Solskjaer by revealing the speeds run by United’s squad during a training session in Perth on the first leg of United’s pre-season tour. Lukaku felt his tweet was merely a response to critics who have accused him of lacking pace and fitness but he was ordered to delete it.

It led to a heated meeting between Solskjaer and Lukaku on Sunday in which the player felt he was told he had to work away from United’s first team. Lukaku – who has missed all six of United’s preseason matches with what was officially cited as an ankle injury – ended up travelling to Belgium to train with his former club Anderlecht. Although pictures of Lukaku training with Anderlecht on Monday bemused United officials, it was explained that the players were on a day off but that the Belgian would be expected back on Tuesday.

Yet Lukaku failed to report, spending another day at the Neerpede complex outside Brussels, and is understood to have remained in Belgium yesterday. Lukaku’s failure to report at Carrington is understood to have resulted in a fine, although the player may opt to contest the punishment in the belief he did have permission to be away. United have yet to comment officially.

Lukaku earns a basic salary of £115,000 a week, albeit more than double that once bonuses and image rights are factored in.

Antonio Conte, the Inter coach who tried to bring Lukaku to Chelsea before United’s late hijacking of the move in 2017, had feared he would miss out on the player once again when United began negotiating with Juventus as part of a proposed swap deal with Paulo Dybala.

But that move collapsed over the weekend when United backed away due to reservations about Dybala’s willingness to move to Old Trafford, his wage demands and agents’ fees, thought to be in excess of £13million, as well as complications over the Argentina striker’s image rights. That cleared the way for Inter to sign Lukaku but their failure to offload Mauro Icardi proved a complicating factor.

Whether United manage to bring in a replacement for Lukaku before the close of the Premier League transfer window at 5pm today remains to be seen.

Solskjaer is thought to be comfortable with his squad and, determined that the Lukaku saga does not overshadow preparations for the opening match against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday, he has been happy for the Belgian to leave without a replacement. The form of 17-year-old Mason Greenwood in pre-season has encouraged Solskjaer and he will ask Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to spearhead the attack. Alexis Sanchez remains available, too.

United have retained an interest in the veteran Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic who was initially discussed as part of the Lukakudybala swap talks.

Lukaku has struggled to win over Solskjaer, who wanted a more fluid attack able to press aggressively. Solskjaer has prioritised retaining another unsettled player in Paul Pogba, who voiced his desire to seek a new challenge in June but none of the France midfielder’s suitors, including Real Madrid, have been able to meet United’s £160million-plus valuation.

United, meanwhile, have rebuffed an approach from Everton to take defender Chris Smalling on a season-long loan.