Romelu Lukaku helped Inter Milan win the title last season and months later, he left them to return to Chelsea.
The striker joined the Nerazzurri from Manchester United in the summer of 2017 and prior to moving to the San Siro, he had an opportunity to join Juventus.
Inter chairman Steven Zhang was initially reluctant to meet the demands set by the Red Devils for the transfer. This allowed the Old Lady to step in and they were willing to offer Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandžukić to United, in exchange for the Belgium international.
Manchester United failed in signing the two forwards, while the former Everton star ended up joining Inter. Federico Pastorello, the agent of the Blues frontman, has now detailed why his client didn’t end up at Juventus.
“Is it true that Lukaku was one step away from Juventus before moving to Milan? Yes,” the agent told Tuttosport, relayed by Calciomercato.
“The deal with Inter had stalled because Zhang seemed unwilling to meet Manchester United’s demands. Juventus had the agreement with the English club, who in exchange for Lukaku would have signed Dybala and Mandzukic.
“Romelu had already talked to [Maurizio] Sarri and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Dybala and Manchester United, probably both not too convinced, did not reach an agreement.”
Lukaku was vital in not only helping in Inter win the title last season, but with that, also ending Juve’s dominance in Serie A. Pastorello is of the belief his client’s move to Inter led to a major change in Italy.
“While Marotta, Ausilio, Conte and I managed to convince Zhang to raise the offer. Without detracting from Lukaku’s teammates at Inter, I think that transfer has shifted the balance in Italy,” Pastorello explained.
Dybala is still at Juventus, where he has a contract expiring in 2022. Mandžukić, on the other hand, retired from football back in September.
