Romelu Lukaku looks to be on the way out of Manchester United.
Talks
The Belgian International returned from holiday to hold talks at the club. Following that meeting, the club are happy to listen to offers for the forward.
The burly Belgian scored 17 times for the club last season, including two in the Champions League win over Paris St Germain. Those look like they will be his last goals for the Red Devils. He suffered several lean goalscoring spells over the course of the season.
Future
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to freshen up the squad following the side’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The Norwegian wants a fast, young, dynamic attacking threat for his team into the future, making Lukaku surplus to requirements.
It is reported that the club’s hierarchy is keen to remove Lukaku from the club’s significant wage bill. Chairman Ed Woodward wants to sell the frontman. Woodward is also not willing to contribute to the player’s future wages on the remaining three years of his contract. Lukaku will have to take a pay cut from the reported £225,000 weekly wage he currently pockets at United.
Italy
Lukaku is said to “like Italy” according to his agent back in April, and it is his preferred destination for the next stage of his career. Both Inter and Juventus are interested in signing the striker. Inter are favourites to land the signature having qualified for the Champions’ League in the last game of the season.
New Inter manager Antonio Conte will want a better Champions League run than last season, where they didn’t get past the group stages. The former Chelsea boss is understood to have made the Belgian his top transfer target. Inter could beat Juve to the signature as the Turin side have yet to confirm manager Max Allegri’s successor.
Deal
United are keen to get a deal done quickly to secure transfer funds for Solskjaer to freshen up the Manchester United squad. Big names like Matthijs de Ligt and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are in the Norwegian’s sights.
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