Romelu Lukaku is expected to miss Manchester United’s preseason friendly against Inter on Saturday, Corriere della Sera reported today.
The striker sat out the Red Devils’ 4-0 win over Leeds on Wednesday, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer telling reporters he was ‘not ready’ to play.
United are also excluding the Belgian from all their promotional photos during preseason, with the paper citing this as a ‘comforting’ sign for Inter.
The Nerazzurri are trying to move closer to United’s €80 million asking price, but the clubs have very different ideas when it comes to how a deal should be structured.
The clubs are ‘very slowly’ moving together as negotiations continue and should remain confident an agreement will be reached.
Corriere also discussed Inter’s bid to offload Borja Valero to Fiorentina, after Piero Ausilio met the Viola’s sporting director Daniele Prade yesterday.
Vincenzo Montella wants to sign an experienced midfielder and has revived his interest for the Spaniard after Daniele De Rossi chose to join Boca Juniors.
Fiorentina are reluctant to meet Inter’s €4 million asking price because they believe it is excessive, but both clubs want to conclude a deal.