United ace Lukaku moves to Inter
INTER Milan has completed the signing of striker Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United, ending the Belgium international’s two-year spell at Old Trafford which began brightly but ended with him battling for a place in the team.
Inter said in a statement yesterday that Lukaku, who will spearhead the Serie A club’s attack in a revamped team under new coach Antonio Conte as it attempts to win its first major trophy since 2011, had signed a contract until June 2024.
“Inter were the only club I wanted,” said Lukaku. I’m here to bring the Nerazzurri back to the top.”
The powerfully built leftfooted striker was also wanted by Italian champion Juventus, according to media reports.
Television pictures showed several hundred Inter fans waiting to greet Lukaku when he arrived at Malpensa airport on a private jet in the early hours of the morning.
He spent the night at a hotel and underwent a medical yesterday, media reports said.
Still only 26, Lukaku has won 81 caps for Belgium, scored 48 international goals and played at two World Cups.
Inter will be his sixth club in a career which began when he made his debut for Anderlecht as a 16-year-old and has taken him to Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Everton. Altogether, he has played 413 competitive club games and scored 187 goals.
Conte, who replaced Luciano Spalletti at Inter after the end of last season, has been chasing Lukaku for some time and had also tried to sign him when he was manager of Chelsea.
Lukaku’s arrival will cast further doubt over the future of striker Mauro Icardi, who was stripped of the captaincy last year.
Also, Tottenham Hotspur finally completed the signing of 19-year-old Fulham winger Ryan Sessegnon on a five-year deal, local media reported yesterday.
The English Premier League club has been tracking the England under 21 international throughout the close season and is reported to have paid a transfer fee that could rise to 30 million pounds (US$36.44 million).
Spurs were yet to comment on the deal which is expected to see 22-year-old midfielder Josh Onomah move the other way.
Sessegnon, who plays either left back or further forward, became one of the hottest properties in English football when he helped Fulham gain promotion to the EPL in 2018.
Sessegnon is Tottenham’s second major signing of the transfer window after it paid around 63 million pounds for powerful Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
Spurs were making the headlines on a busy final day of the EPL transfer window with a deal in the pipeline for Giovani lo Celso but their hopes of signing Paulo Dybala are fading.
Across north London, Arsenal was expected to complete moves for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney and center-back David Luiz from Chelsea.
Argentina midfielder Lo Celso is expected to complete a season-long loan deal that will contain an obligation on Tottenham’s part to make the transfer permanent next summer.
But a sensational swoop for Dybala has reportedly broken down, with Juventus unwilling to let the Argentine leave without an adequate replacement, having missed out on Lukaku.
Arsenal is badly in need of defensive recruits to shore up a backline that conceded 51 EPL goals last season to miss out on UEFA Champions League football for a third straight year.
Tierney traveled to London on Wednesday after the payment structure of a 25-million pound move from Celtic was finally agreed between the clubs.
Luiz is also set for a switch across London to replace departed Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny, who joined Bordeaux earlier this week, in an 8-million pound transfer from Chelsea.
No more business is expected at EPL champion Manchester City after it secured right-back Joao Cancelo from Juventus.
(Agencies)