Inter Milan want Romelu Lukaku on loan for next two seasons

Manchester United are likely to reject Inter Milan’s proposed £62.7 million deal to first loan and then buy Romelu Lukaku.

Antonio Conte, the new Inter coach, has made the Belgium striker his primary transfer target this summer.

United are open to selling Lukaku but want to recoup their £80 million outlay on the player they signed from Everton in 2017 and Inter’s hopes have so far rested on being able to offload Mauro Icardi to free up cash and space on the wage bill. Yet, with Inter struggling to sell Icardi, the Italian club are preparing to make an alternative proposal to United after talks with Lukaku’s agent, Federico Pastorello, in Milan on Tuesday.

That would involve an initial two-year loan worth €10 million (£9 million) and then an obligation to buy Lukaku at the end of the term for a further €60 million (£53.7 million).

Inter are likely to present United with the offer in the coming days but well-placed sources at Old Trafford have indicated that it is expected to be rebuffed by the Manchester club.

United – who are expected to announce the projected £50 million signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace on Friday after the right-back underwent a medical and finalised his transfer on Thursday – have already indicated they have little interest in an exchange deal involving Icardi, Ivan Perisic or Radja Nainggolan.

United favour a cash transfer if Lukaku is to leave, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer knowing the sale of Belgian – who is keen to join Inter – for a substantial fee would swell his summer transfer budget,

Nonetheless, Inter’s proposal to follow a loan with an obligation to buy is not uncommon.

For example, Inter signed Montenegro striker Stevan Jovetic on an 18-month loan from Manchester City in 2015 with an obligation to buy subject to certain conditions.

City also loaned Alvaro Negredo to Valencia for a season in 2014 with an obligation for the Spanish club to buy the striker for £25 million at the end of the loan term.

If Icardi is not sold, a deal for Lukaku is unlikely to get off the ground unless other options are explored by Inter or another club comes in for the Belgian.

With Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, unwilling to sell Paul Pogba unless a club matches the France midfielder’s £160 million tag and both Real Madrid and Juventus unable to do a deal at that figure and United unable to move on Alexis Sanchez at present, Lukaku still looks the most likely of that big earning trio to depart, even if a move remains fraught with complications.

Wan-Bissaka is due to become Solskjaer’s second signing of the summer after Wales winger Daniel James, who arrived from Swansea City for a projected £18 million.

Solskjaer remains in the market for a midfielder or two, with Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff and Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes among the targets, a centre-half and a right-sided forward.