Inter step up transfer bid for Man Utd star Romelu Lukaku as sporting director Piero Ausilio flies into London for talks with Ed Woodward – The Sun

INTER MILAN are trying to force through a move for Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku – with sporting director Piero Ausilio flying into London for talks.

Ausilio was planning to wait until the weekend at the earliest to fly to the UK for talks with Ed Woodward in his office in the capital.

But the Serie A club have decided to move quicker in an effort to secure an agreement for the 26-year-old – who has been left in no doubt he is second choice behind Marcus Rashford at Old Trafford.

The Italian club appear to have been spooked into action by suggestions Juventus are working away behind the scenes in an attempt to launch their own bid for Lukaku.

However, Inter are still struggling to meet United's £75million valuation for the forward, and are hoping to knock around £10m off the asking price.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's decision to plead with the striker to give him one more season has also got them worried they could miss out on their No 1 target.

As SunSport revealed earlier, Lukaku has told Solskjaer he still wants out.

The Belgian blames the United boss for leaving him feeling unwanted at the club over the past six months.

Lukaku believes he was hung out to dry by the management towards the end of the last campaign, with Solskjaer claiming several players would be on their way out over the summer.

The Norwegian did little to dampen talk that Lukaku would be one of those players leaving, and over the past few months failed to give the impression to the player that he was wanted.

But having struggled to bring in a top-class forward so far in the transfer window, Solskjaer has suddenly changed his tune and is trying to launch a charm offensive aimed at convincing the star he is still valued.

That has cut no ice with the former Chelsea and Everton ace, who is understood to have felt his manager’s chat was too little, too late.

Seeing Rashford handed a £300,000-a-week new contract has also increased his belief there is a clear pecking order when it comes to being the main attacker for United.

The belief is that Solskjaer only dangled out an olive branch because he is running out of other options, while new Inter boss Antonio Conte has made Lukaku feel important.

And after six months where Solskjaer made it clear Lukaku was very much second choice in his plans, the desperate late push to build bridges has not gone down well.

The boss’ handling of United has come into question, after claiming in May that several of his squad were unlikely to remain at Old Trafford in the new era.

Since then not one player has been sold, with the Norwegian claiming he has yet to receive a bid for any of them.

Only two signings have been made – Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James – while main striking target Joao Felix snubbed a move in favour of joining Atletico Madrid.

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Paulo Dybala of Juventus was another on their radar, but the Argentine is not thought to be keen on moving to Old Trafford either.

That has thrown United’s plans into chaos, and left Solskjaer trying to convince Lukaku he does rate him after all – despite the way he has treated him since taking charge.

So a move to Inter would be the preferred option for Lukaku, even though he has knuckled down in training since reporting back for pre-season a week early.

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