Romelu Lukaku missed Manchester United’s friendly match against Leeds on Tuesday because the striker picked up a knock in training.
That was the official explanation manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave to the Red Devils’ in-house TV channel before the game in Perth, at least.
Inter are in talks to sign the Belgian and Lukaku’s absence from the matchday squad created great interest and speculation on social media.
Solskjaer told MUTV that physical problems were to blame, before explaining away similar no-shows from David De Gea and Luke Shaw.
“David just fell ill today so he didn’t feel right,” the Norweigian said.
“We’ll wait until the Inter Milan game on Saturday for him. The others, such as Lukaku and Shaw, are not ready either.”
Lukaku also sat out United’s 2-0 win over Perth Glory last weekend and the club’s website assured Solskjaer had ‘hoped’ to include him against Leeds.
It remains to be seen whether or not the 26-year-old will feature against Antonio Conte’s side in Singapore.
