Inter have reportedly decided to pull out of the race to sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea this summer, leaving the path clear for the Belgian international to negotiate with Juventus according to reports from Gianluca Di Marzio.
The reports from Di Marzio and Sky Sport Italia claim that Inter have completely abandoned their pursuit of Lukaku and will instead turn to other options available in the market.
According to Di Marzio, Inter’s sporting director Piero Ausilio informed Lukaku of the club’s decision to walk away from the transfer in a phone call, which reportedly lasted just 30 seconds.
Inter thought they had reached an agreement with Chelsea over a fee for the 30-year-old striker, reported to be €35m plus €5m in bonuses, but when it came to getting Lukaku’s final approval, he was nowhere to be found.
Neither Lukaku or his lawyer and representative Sebastien Ledure were able to be reached by either Inter or Chelsea for the majority of Friday according to multiple reports.
It had been revealed earlier in the week by Il Corriere dello Sport that there had in fact been a rival bid from Juventus, said to be worth €37.5m plus €2.5m in add-ons.
Di Marzio details that Lukaku had in fact been in discussions with Juventus for several weeks already, dating back to Inter’s preparations for the Champions League final at the beginning of June.
After Lukaku’s lack of communication on Friday, Inter were said to be apoplectic with the way in which discussions had been handled and were said to be re-assessing their options altogether.
Now, it has been reported that Inter will inform Chelsea of their intention to back out of the deal altogether, leaving the path clear for Lukaku to negotiate with Juventus.