Romelu Lukaku weighed a staggering 104kg when he first arrived at Inter two weeks ago, according to Corriere dello Sport.
Neither Inter nor the striker were surprised at his numbers given Lukaku missed the vast majority of Manchester United’s preseason training.
The Belgium international has been hard at work during the Nerazzurri’s days off, in a bid to get back in shape for the match against Lecce on 26 August.
“The aim is to drop back below the 100kg mark before Inter play their first Serie A fixture at San Siro,” the paper reported this morning.
“The history books tell us Lukaku’s ideal weight is 94kg, but that was a few years ago. His muscle mass has grown since then, but that’s what he needs to unleash all his devastating power.”
Inter are expected to stage another unofficial friendly at Appiano Gentile tomorrow, with the aim of helping Lukaku accelerate his weight-loss mission.
The former Everton man is nonetheless unlikely to be anywhere close to full fitness by the time Conte’s side walk out against Lecce.
CdS expected Lukaku to make Inter’s starting XI for the game at San Siro but also made it clear he would not play more than an hour.
Sebastiano Esposito is the surprise favourite to partner the 26-year-old up front, with Lautaro Martinez behind schedule and Matteo Politano still recovering from a thigh injury.
The 17-year-old has already made one appearance for Inter’s first-team, becoming the Nerazzurri’s youngest ever European debutant against Eintracht Frankfurt in March.
He has never played in Serie A before but Conte is thought to be giving it serious thought at the moment.
