Andre Onana and Romelu Lukaku have their destinies inextricably tied, as Inter cannot secure the striker from Chelsea until Manchester United have purchased the goalkeeper.
It was always known the two deals were connected and that is becoming increasingly obvious, but things could be coming to a head over the next couple of days.
Manchester United must rush if they want Onana to take part in their pre-season tour and they know the asking price is €60m including add-ons.
They would probably be ready to accept for €55m including add-ons, but need at least €50m guaranteed cash to part with the Cameroon international.
Onana already agreed personal terms and has his bags packed, as multiple sources are confident a deal will be done by the end of this week.
Once that is done, then Inter can raise their proposal to Chelsea for Lukaku, but it still won’t be that close to the €45m price-tag set by Chelsea.
Their current bid is €30m and will be raised, but they have the advantage that Lukaku only has Inter on his mind and will not even take any other proposals into consideration, especially from Saudi Arabia or Serie A rivals Juventus.