Manchester United eye Lukaku replacement

 

Manchester United are ready to cash in on Romelu Lukaku at the end of the season and have two Serie A stars in mind to replace the Belgian, claims The Daily Mirror.

 

Lukaku is the second most expensive player in United’s history after the Red Devils shelled out £75m for his signature in 2017.

 

The Belgium international has, however, dropped completely out of favour since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho before Christmas.

 

Solskjaer has moved United away from the laboured football they played under Mourinho and prioritised pace and fast breaks.

 

Marcus Rashford has usurped Lukaku in the pecking order for places in attack and the United No.9 will need to reinvent himself to salvage his Old Trafford future.

 

United are understood to have already drafted a list of replacements for Lukaku and have their eye on Juventus ace Paulo Dybala and Inter striker Mauro Icardi.


Dybala has struggled to nail down a defined role at Juventus since Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival last summer and on Friday scored his first league goal since the start of November.

 

Manchester United eye Lukaku replacement

 

 

Reports even emerged earlier this month claiming the Old Lady were mulling a swap deal with Liverpool for Mohamed Salah that would see Dybala move in the opposite direction.

 

Dybala has also been heavily linked with a move to United in recent years and a player of his calibre would certainly appeal to chief-executive Ed Woodward.

 

The Argentina international is not the only Serie A forward on United’s radar, as the Red Devils have also been alerted to Icardi’s potential availability.

 

Inter stripped Icardi of the captain’s armband in midweek before the 25-year-old refused to travel to Austria for their Europa League tie on Thursday night.

 

The Serie A outfit have already declared Icardi will not feature against Sampdoria on Sunday and the Argentine striker now looks to be heading for a summer exit.

 

Icardi has only scored nine goals in 20 league appearances this season. Moreover, only one player has missed more clear-cut goalscoring chances than Icardi in Serie A this season (10).