Piero Ausilio, Inter Milan’s sporting director, is understood to have flown to London for talks with United officials on Thursday as the Italian giants bid to thrash out a deal for the wantaway Belgium striker.
Lukaku, and fellow forward Anthony Martial, missed United’s open training session in front of 12,000 fans at the Waca stadium in Perth on Thursday in order to do some alternative work in the gym. Both had been involved in the morning training session.
Inter are proposing an initial two-year loan worth about £9m with an obligation to buy at the end of that term for a further £53.7m but United want a straight cash deal. Inter’s hopes of being able to meet United’s £75m valuation are still likely to hinge on them offloading Argentina striker Mauro Icardi, who is attracting interest from Juventus.
Lukaku has not publicly voiced his desire to leave Old Trafford, unlike team mate Paul Pogba, and has remained respectful, even reporting two days early for pre-season. But he has not felt wanted by Solskjaer over the past six months and wants to play for Antonio Conte at Inter. Solskjaer held talks with Lukaku this week and has launched something of a charm offensive at a time when United are struggling to bolster their attacking options but the Belgian has regarded it as too little, too late and has set his sights on a transfer.
Lukaku felt he was cast aside when Solskjaer took over and installed Marcus Rashford as his first-choice centre-forward and favoured an attack featuring Martial and Jesse Lingard. He also believes little attempt was made to dampen talk about him leaving.
