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Romelu Lukaku agrees Inter Milan switch as Man United edge closer to deal for high-profile replacement

Romelu Lukaku is attracting interest from Inter Milan (Martin Rickett/PA) Expand

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Romelu Lukaku is attracting interest from Inter Milan (Martin Rickett/PA)

Romelu Lukaku is attracting interest from Inter Milan (Martin Rickett/PA)

Romelu Lukaku is attracting interest from Inter Milan (Martin Rickett/PA)

Simon Peach

Manchester United have agreed an €80m fee with Inter Milan for striker Romelu Lukaku.

The 26-year-old is hoping to leave Old Trafford for pastures new just two years after his big-money switch from Everton.

Having seen a swap deal with Juventus collapse due to Paulo Dybala's reluctance to go the other way, Lukaku surprisingly started the week training with former club Anderlecht.

Those developments have seen Antonio Conte's Nerazzurri redouble their effort to sign Lukaku.

Inter had a €60m opening offer rejected last month and upped terms to finally strike a deal with United. The Red Devils have now turned their attention to Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic as Lukaku's replacement, and have entered talks with the Italian champions.

Lukaku's agent Federico Pastorello is understood to be in London to help get the move over the line, as well as discuss his client's recent issues.

The Belgian looks to be at the point of no return with United, whose manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was understandably annoyed to see the striker's Twitter video showing internal data of the players' maximum speed in training.

Lukaku reportedly faces a fine for that despite swiftly deleting the post, plus another fine could be on its way for training away from United this week.

Eyebrows were raised on Monday when the striker was pictured training with boyhood club Anderlecht.

United's players had a day off on Monday and it was reported that Lukaku was expected back on Tuesday with the rest of Solskjaer's squad.

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However, Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws published a photo of the striker training with Anderlecht once again - a matter United declined to comment. Lukaku's current whereabouts on Wednesday remains unconfirmed.

The player joined the Old Trafford giants on their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia but failed to feature in any of their four matches due to knocks. He was also absent for the friendlies against Kristiansund and AC Milan upon returning to Europe.

Pastorello added intrigue late on Wednesday evening when he posted a picture on Instagram of himself and Lukaku apparently headed to Italy.

Pastorello wrote alongside the image: "Ready to take off .... direction Milano."

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