Romelu Lukaku completes £74m move to Inter from Manchester United
Romelu Lukaku has completed his move to Internazionale after weeks of pushing for a departure from Manchester United.
The Serie A club had a €60m (£54m) offer rejected last month and redoubled their efforts after Paulo Dybala’s prohibitive demands thwarted a potential swap deal involving Lukaku between United and Juventus. It is understood Inter will pay up to €80m (£73.75m) for the striker and a sell-on clause has been inserted in the deal.
The Belgian, who scored 42 goals in 96 appearances for United, has signed a contract until 2024 at San Siro. “Inter were the only club I wanted, because Inter is not for everyone,” Lukaku said upon signing. “I’m here to bring the Nerazzurri back to the top.”
Having raised eyebrows and irked United by starting the week training at former club Anderlecht in Belgium, the 26-year-old arrived in Milan overnight to complete paperwork and a medical. Lukaku’s agent, Federico Pastorello, had flown into London on Wednesday to push through his client’s exit and end a difficult and at times fractious process.
Lukaku’s relationship with the United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, had deteriorated in the past week. He was fined by United for missing training without permission this week.
Inter had previously offered £64.7m including add-ons paid over two years and were initially hoping that the Belgian would join on loan for the first year. However, United’s resistance led to Inter, under pressure from their new manager, Antonio Conte, to raise their bid on Wednesday.
The player has agreed a five-year deal with Inter worth around £300,000 a week. Conte is a long-time admirer of Lukaku and wanted to sign the Belgian when at Chelsea and will be delighted to have got his man.
Lukaku scored 27 goals in his first season at the club but managed only 15 in 2018-19. He joined United from Everton for £75m plus £15m in add-ons in July 2017.
The fee paid for Lukaku is a transfer record for Inter, the previous record for the Italian club being in 1999 when Christian Vieri joined from Lazio for €46m (£42.5m).
It has been a mixed transfer summer for United. They finished sixth in the Premier League last season, a demoralising 32 points behind the champions, Manchester City, but have been able to add the central defender Harry Maguire from Leicester for £80m, Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace for an initial £45m as well as Daniel James from Swansea for £15m in this window.
They also look like keeping hold of the midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been the subject of consistent interest from Real Madrid through the summer. Asked if Pogba will feature on the opening day of the season, when United face Chelsea at Old Trafford, Solskjaer replied: “He should be OK. I hope so, anyway.”