Inter say they won’t pay over the odds for Lukaku

Inter Milan chief executive Beppe Marotta has suggested the club will not be increasing their offer for Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.

Lukaku has been left out of United’s travelling squad for tonight’s friendly against Kristiansund in Norway, having missed all four matches on their preseason tour of Australia, Singapore and China due to knocks.

It is understood Lukaku has been the subject of a failed £54 million bid by Inter, with United giving the Serie A giants a deadline to agree a deal.

But Marotta believes their offer is one that fits the value of Lukaku.

“We made a strong offer, one that is valid and suited to the transfer value of the player and we were unable to conclude a deal,” he said.

“The club is strong, but we need to stay within certain parameters. The club has made big investments and we believe that we’re already at a good stage in the process.

“We are ready to pounce on opportunities, but prices are nowadays very high indeed. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and anything can happen on the market.”

On Sunday, a picture appeared on the 26-yearold’s social media accounts of him and his agent Federico Pastorello, accompanied by the message “soon to be continued”.

Lukaku’s name was then missing from the 26-player travelling party that United announced yesterday ahead of today’s match at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium.

The Belgian, after picking up an ankle injury, trained on his own on the eve of the final match of the tour, last week’s 2-1 win against Tottenham in Shanghai.

Defender Eric Bailly is not part of the group heading to Norway after he sustained a knee injury in the victory over Spurs.

Forward Alexis Sanchez is another not included after limping out of Chile’s Copa America third-place play-off match against Argentina earlier this month. Full-back Matteo Darmian is also absent.

United also play AC Milan in Cardiff on Saturday.