Inter have downplayed striker Romelu Lukaku’s claims that there was a time when all barring two players of the first team squad were ill according to a report in today’s print edition of Gazzetta dello Sport.

Yesterday Lukaku sensationally claimed that 23 of 25 players came back ill with flu like symptoms after a one week break around the turn of the year but none of them were tested for Covid-19 at the time.

Lukaku claimed that Milan Skriniar had to come off in the first game back but that was not the case, the report goes on to recall as the match which the Slovak had to come off due to illness in came 20 days after the first game back.

Stefan de Vrij, Skriniar and Danilo D’Ambrosio all missed the match with Fiorentina due to having the flu and the only other flu related absence after that was young defender Alessandro Bastoni against Lazio in the middle of February.

The report goes on to state that Inter insist the picture that Lukaku painted did not happen and the training sessions completed around that time are proof of that as is the fact there was no contagion amongst other staff.