Exclusive
OUT OF LUK
Antonio Conte fuming with Inter Milan getting cold feet over Man Utd ace Romelu Lukaku’s £75m transfer fee
INTER MILAN are getting cold feet over paying £75million for Romelu Lukaku – leaving the striker in limbo and Antonio Conte fuming.
Lukaku is currently in Singapore with United waiting for the Italian club to meet the Premier League club's asking price.
2
But SunSport understands Inter have suddenly started to question if he is worth the money.
And after telling Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last week that he wanted out, the striker is now being left hanging as the Serie A side suddenly look to other potential cheaper options — such as £33m Everton target Rafael Leao.
New Inter boss Conte is believed to be angry at the way his new employers have started breaking promises they made when they convinced him to take the job.
He was assured he would be able to take a full squad on the club’s pre-season tour of Asia, including United star Lukaku and other target Edin Dzeko.
Since then his bosses have failed to come up with any money for new signings, leaving the former Chelsea manager smarting behind the scenes.
Conte has only given one interview since taking charge — on the day he was announced — and has not done any press since then because the situation is not what he was promised.
2
He made Lukaku his No1 target since arriving at the San Siro, and was told they would commit themselves fully to making sure a deal was secured.
But Inter have continually delayed making any formal offer, until this week preparing a deal which would see around £40m paid up front with the remainder spread over three years.
Even that would only guarantee the Reds £60m, with a further £15m on top dependant on bonus payments.
Inter also told him they would clear the decks of the players he did not want – but the likes of Mauro Icardi, Radja Nainggolan and Jaoa Mario are no nearer to leaving.
Now the club have started to let it be known they are unsure if the Belgian is worth the money United are asking, and were happy to be linked with Lille’s Portuguese forward Leao.
It is believed they are trying to play a game of bluff with United in an attempt to get them to drop their asking price.
MOST READ IN MAN UTD
But Ed Woodward and his board are in no mood to go along with such tactics and remain insistent Inter either pay up or they can forget striking a deal.
In the meantime Lukaku faces having to knuckle down in training with United, after missing the opening two pre-season friendlies with “slight” injuries.
That has left him behind the rest of the squad in building up match fitness ahead of the new season, which is now just over three weeks away.
Now he is likely to have to line up against the Italians on Saturday when the two sides meet in Singapore.
Topics