Inter and Manchester United agree Lukaku fee

Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Inter has moved closer after the Serie A club agreed a fee with Manchester United.

Omnisport understands Inter will pay €80million (£73m) to make the Belgium striker their record signing.

Lukaku arrived at Milan Malpensa Airport during the early hours of Thursday morning and was enthusiastically greeted by around 500 Inter fans.

Inter boss Antonio Conte tried to sign Lukaku during his time in charge of Chelsea, only for United to get their man as they paid Everton £75m in July 2017.

Lukaku scored 16 Premier League goals in his first season at Old Trafford but his form dwindled as Jose Mourinho’s troubled reign came to an end last time around.

The frontman was unable to sustain a resurgence under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – a double as United stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in March was his third brace in as many matches, but he did not score again for the rest of the campaign.

Injury ruled Lukaku out of United’s pre-season tour of Australia and East Asia, with Solskjaer omitting him from the subsequent friendlies against Kristiansund and AC Milan.

The deal will see Inter break their long-standing transfer record of €49m, paid to Lazio for Christian Vieri in 1999.

United are expected to seek a replacement before the 17:00 BST transfer deadline for Premier League clubs, with Juventus’ Mario Mandzukic and Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki Williams both rumoured targets.