Manchester City are not interested in a move for Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku this summer.
That’s according to former striker Antonio Cassano, who has reacted angrily to suggestions the Belgian could be on the way to the Etihad.
Lukaku has been named as a target for Manchester City this summer, with them on the hunt for a new striker as Sergio Aguero is leaving.
The Inter Milan star would be an ideal candidate to fill the void left by the Argentine, having established himself as one of the best strikers in Europe since joining Inter from Manchester United in 2019.
This season alone, he has 21 goals in 32 league games to his name, with only Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of him in the Serie A goalscoring charts.
It is numbers like that, as well as 61 goals in 91 games in total for Inter, that are believed to have made Manchester City stand up and take notice.
Lukaku is said to be on a shortlist of elite-level strikers they are looking at this summer, a list which includes the likes of Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
Cassano is having none of that, though, rebuking a fellow guest on a recent appearance on BoboTV’s Twitch channel.
According to FC Inter 1908, fellow guest Nikola Ventola stated, “I confirm, City and Chelsea are following Lukaku,” amid a discussion about the striker.
This led to Cassano replying: “Don’t talk rubbish, Lukaku doesn’t fit into Guardiola’s idea. In my opinion, it’s the agents saying this to get more money.”
Now whether Cassano knows anything behind the scenes or not, we don’t know, but this is a bold stance to take on the subject nonetheless.
It would certainly be surprising to see City make a move for Lukaku given his ties to rivals Manchester United, as well as the fact Inter are likely to demand a huge fee for him.
But those numbers are proof enough of his quality, and there’s every chance that could remove any reservations about signing him.
The likelihood is that he is just one of several options Manchester City have looked at and we’ll sit on the fence and wait to see what happens in that regard, unlike Cassano, who has firmly planted his flag on the matter it seems.
