Juventus leapfrog Inter in race for Manchester United wantaway

Juventus are now considered favourites in the race to sign Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku, claims Sky Sports.

Lukaku has made it clear to United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he wants to leave the club after dropping down the pecking order at Old Trafford.

The Belgium international has been heavily linked with a move to Inter and the 26-year-old’s preference is to link up with Antonio Conte.

Inter have had several bids rejected by United and have intimated they have already submitted their best offer.

Lukaku’s entourage are reportedly irritated by Inter publicly undermining the striker’s transfer value and now Juventus are circling.

The Old Lady are keen on Lukaku and head coach Maurizio Sarri has reportedly given the green light to signing the United forward.

Lukaku is open to joining the Serie A champions but would have to be convinced by their proposal as he may not be a guaranteed starter.

Juventus are reportedly even willing to send Paulo Dybala in the opposite direction, though they value the Argentina international at €100m (£91.7m).

That would require United sending Lukaku to Juventus in addition to an extra £10m and it remains to be seen whether Solskjaer wants Dybala.

The United of recent years would have jumped at the chance to sign someone as marketable as Dybala but Solskjaer has made a conscious effort to change the club’s recruitment strategy.

Solskjaer has made signing young, ambitious British players his priority this summer, illustrated by the arrivals of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James.

United have made several high-profile blunders in recent transfer markets and there may be a concern Dybala could fall into that category.

Alexis Sanchez, Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao all arrived with big reputations but flattered to deceive.

Dybala has been told he can leave Juventus this summer but it is understood the 25-year-old’s would prefer to stay and fight for his place.

Dybala struggled to nail down a defined role at Juventus last season following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and netted only five league goals.

Lukaku also failed to hit the heights expected last term and weighed in with just 12 league goals for United – his lowest tally in a single league campaign since 2014/15 (10).