Romelu Lukaku is prepared to put his foot down and force Manchester United into letting the striker join Inter, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Lukaku is Antonio Conte’s first choice to replace the outgoing Mauro Icardi and opened the door to the Nerazzurri on Tuesday, telling reporters he had already made a decision on his future.

Manchester United want €80 million to part company with the Belgian striker and have rejected Inter’s offer of a swap deal with Ivan Perisic.

However, Lukaku will look to persuade the Red Devils to lower their asking price in order to secure his dream move to Serie A.

“When Lukaku said ‘I’ll talk with the club’ the other day, he meant he will try to force the club’s hand and push for a sale to Inter,” Gazzetta reported this morning.

“Saying in public ‘I already know what I’ll do’ is a way of telling the club he has already made his mind up on his next destination. It’s as if he’s saying to United ‘you know who you need to negotiate with’.”

Inter must sell Icardi in order to finance a move for Lukaku, but the Nerazzurri do not have any such constraints in their pursuit for Roma’s Edin Dzeko.

Dzeko chose to join Inter back in March and now Beppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio must reach an agreement with the Giallorossi.

Roma want 17-year-old Sebastiano Esposito to be included in the deal, after the forward scored twice against them in Tuesday’s Campionato Primavera semi-final, but Inter do not wish to sell the Italian.

Conte’s idea for next season is to have Dzeko linking play as a second striker while Lukaku runs at defences as a more traditional no. 9.