Ben Guest
It has been one of the saga’s of the summer so far, but there have finally been some developments about the future of Romelu Lukaku overnight.
The Manchester United striker has been heavily linked with making a move to Serie A this summer, with Inter Milan the favourites to land his signature.
However, the Italian side have so far struggled to come up with the necessary funds to facilitate a transfer, with United having slapped a £75 million price tag on the head of the Belgian.
Juventus are another club who have been linked with a move for the 26-year-old, and the well respected Gianluca di Marzio is reporting that the Italian champions are still interested in a deal, and are prepared to offer Paulo Dybala in part-exchange.
The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in Turin last summer has seen the Argentine pushed down the pecking order, and he was recently linked with a big-money move to Spurs.
United have long been admirers of Dybala, although whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would see him as part of his new vision for the club is yet to be seen.
Meanwhile, having seen two bids already rejected, Inter Milan are said to be preparing an improved bid of €75 million (£67.5m) bid for the former Everton striker. That bid is said to comprise of an initial payment of €70m (£63m) plus an additional €5m (£4.5m) in add ons, although these numbers are still short of United’s reported valuation.
#Inter are preparing new bid for Romelu Lukaku after Man Utd refused the first one: €70M + €5M add ons, talks ongoing with Manchester United 🔴 #MUFC #Inter #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 26, 2019
Inter Milan are desperately trying to offload unwanted forward Mauro Icardi in order to raise the necessary funds, but have so far found no takers for the controversial striker, with Antonio Conte confirming he is not a part of his plans.
Reports earlier this week suggested that any deal for Lukaku will need to be wrapped up inside a week, with the Red Devils wanting to sign a replacement before the Premier League‘s transfer deadline, which is on August 8th.
Report: Manchester United to target Dembele as Lukaku replacement
See also: Ranking every player to break the Premier League transfer record since 92/93