Manchester United transfer news: Romelu Lukaku's agent arrives for crunch talks on AWOL striker
Absent striker spent two days training at former club Anderlecht
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Romelu Lukaku’s agent Federico Pastorello has travelled to London to negotiate his client’s departure from Manchester United.
Lukaku has spent the last two days training with his former club Anderlecht, despite not receiving explicit permission from United to do so.
United’s players were given a day off on Monday, when pictures of Lukaku in his native Belgium first emerged, but he failed to report back to Manchester on Tuesday as expected.
The 26-year-old did not train with Anderlecht on Wednesday but is believed to still be in Belgium rather than Manchester.
Lukaku can expect to be fined by United, just days after being rebuked by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for leaking training performance data on social media.
Internazionale and Juventus remain interested in signing the 26-year-old as his relationship with United and Solskjaer reaches breaking point.
Though Lukaku agreed a €9m-a-year contract with Juventus last week, his move hinged on Paulo Dybala agreeing to United in exchange.
Following the collapse of talks between Dybala and United, Inter are now favourites to sign Lukaku. United rejected a £54m bid from the Serie A club last month.
Pastorello’s arrival in the capital for talks at United’s offices is an indication that the club is looking to move Lukaku on imminently, potentially before the close of English football's transfer window on Thursday.
United may move to replace Lukaku, though Solskjaer is understood to be happy with the development of youth players like Mason Greenwood over the summer.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments