Inter striker Romelu Lukaku asked his teammate Alessandro Bastoni to man-mark him for the entirety of yesterday’s training match.
This according to today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, who report that the 29-year-old wanted the closest possible experience to playing in a match to accelerate his return to match-fitness.
Whilst Lukaku is fully recovered from the thigh strain he’d been dealing with, this does not mean that the Belgian will be immediately be match-sharp.
Quickly reaching this point is now the striker’s goal.
Lukaku wants to quickly get to the point where he can start and be at his best, with a number of important matches to come.
In the training match in yesterday’s training session, Lukaku wanted to really be tested so that he could use the opportunity to really break through in terms of his match-fitness.
Nerazzurri defender Bastoni man-marked the 29-year-old for the entire match to give him as close an experience to an actual match as he could.