Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan was a fine transfer saga, first showing signs of life on a cold Valentine’s Day.
It steadily grew throughout the second half of the 2018-19 campaign, and when it became clear Antonio Conte would replace Luciano Spalletti at the Serie A club, it blossomed into an ever-present entity in the Italian media.
Wanting to please their new manager, Inter set out rather confidently to sign the 26-year-old, only to be met by a stubborn Ed Woodward, who wanted to ensure his Manchester United didn’t lose any money from their initial expenditure.
Weeks passed, offers were rejected and Inter became dejected.
That’s how Gazzetta dello Sport presented the situation on Friday, as the Serie A side were described as ‘close to abandoning’ their chase, knowing they could only sign him if they sold one of Mauro Icardi or Ivan Perisic.
Time was also their enemy as we neared the August 8th deadline for Premier League clubs, and if nothing happened by the end of July, getting a deal over the line would be tough.
Corriere dello Sport remained a bit more upbeat, but only barely, as Federico Pastorello, Lukaku’s agent, kept telling Woodward that Inter were still interested.
It wasn’t exactly the most convincing of lines, because it’s something we already knew.
This saga had an impressive ability to frustrate those who read about it, and we doubt it will be sorely missed by Manchester United fans.
However, our thoughts and condolences are with all Inter supporters in these tough and difficult times.
If things remain the same, this is it for this story, at least down our end.
