Football

Lukaku’s move from Manchester United edges closer

Romelu Lukaku has been left out of Manchester United’s travelling squad for Tuesday’s friendly against Kristiansund in Norway.

Lukaku was with United for their pre-season tour of Australia, Singapore and China, but knocks meant the striker missed all four matches.

PA understands Lukaku has been the subject of a failed 60 million euros (£54 million) bid by Inter Milan, with United giving the Serie A giants a deadline to agree a deal.

On Sunday, a picture appeared on the 26-year-old’s social media accounts of him and his agent Federico Pastorello, accompanied by the message “soon to be continued.”

Lukaku’s name was then missing from the 26-player travelling party that United announced on their official website on Monday morning ahead of Tuesday’s match at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium.

Lukaku, after picking up an ankle injury, trained on his own on the eve of the final match of the tour, last week’s 2-1 win against Tottenham in Shanghai.

Defender Eric Bailly is not part of the group heading to Norway after he sustained a knee injury in the victory over Spurs.

Forward Alexis Sanchez is another not included after limping out of Chile’s Copa America third-place play-off match against Argentina earlier this month. Full-back Matteo Darmian is also absent.

Tuesday’s game, in boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s homeland, is United’s penultimate pre-season fixture as they face AC Milan in Cardiff on Saturday.

Squad: De Gea, Grant, Pereira, Romero; Dalot, Jones, Lindelof, Rojo, Shaw, Smalling, Tuanzebe, Wan-Bissaka, Young; Fred, Gomes, James, Lingard, Mata, Matic, McTominay, Pereira, Pogba; Chong, Greenwood, Martial, Rashford.

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Ollie McAninch

Ollie McAninch is a former public and private sector economist turned digital media pioneer. After working in the media for over a decade, he helped develop The London Economic to promote independent investigative journalism. When he isn't contributing articles, Ollie spends the bulk of his time looking after animals, pressing apples and planting trees.

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