Inter have been chasing Manchester United's striker Romelu Lukaku for a while now, and the ongoing talks seem never to reach their end.
Inter: Lukaku offers on the table
Last week, Sky Italia’s renowned journalist Gianluca Di Marzio had reported that Manchester United received a £70 million bid on the table by Inter. If accepted, the offer, split into three installments, would see Lukaku join the Milanese side on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy.
However, that offer did not meet United's expectation, as they kept on asking for a total of £80m million, making it difficult for the parties to agree on a deal somewhere in the middle.
Inter remain keen to lure the Belgian international away from the Old Trafford, but their latest offer worth an even lower price of £70m million was also rejected out of hand earlier this week, according to Sky Sports News.
Lukaku was left out of United’s match-day squad for their third pre-season friendly, with manager Solskjaer officially blaming a knock the striker sustained in training. The impression, however, was that the 26-year-old forward wanted to send the Red Devils’ officials a clear message.
In the meantime, Inter will be forced to sell one of midfielder Ivan Perisic or troublesome Mauro Icardi if they wish to increase their offer beyond £50 million.
The Sun have assured that Manchester are prepared to keep Lukaku if the Serie A side fail to meet their asking price, even if the player is deeply unhappy to stay among their ranks. In such case, Paris Saint Germain's’ hitman Edinson Cavani is considered to be the first alternative for the Neroazzuri, Corriere Dello Sport claim.
Juventus: Real threat to Inter?
Juventus also went into the race to try to sign Lukaku, whose Manchester United status appears at this time to be anything but certain. The interesting thing about that is that Inter has another offer up to £70 million for Lukaku according to Di Marzio, which is that Juve could be open to another striking man that is reported to be on request, Paulo Dybala.
The discussion that Dybala might leave Juventus during the coming weeks has been gaining momentum again, as two big names are now being cast from Tottenham and the aforementioned Manchester United.
It's all the more interesting because, after Juve manager Maurizio Sarri discussed the role of Argentina as the starting line-up on return from his holiday in post-Copa America, the latest round of rumors about Dybala's sales has almost come.
The Belgian, however, is still hoping on the move to Inter, urging United to drop its valuation of £80 million. The 26-year-old wasn't included in any friendly matches for his pre-season trip of Australia and Asia. The Sun says that he has ' four' days for an agreement with either Juve or the Nerazzurri.