Former Chelsea boss offers Lukaku escape route from Manchester United
Football
By
Mirror
| May 23, 2019
Antonio Conte is set to be unveiled as the new boss of Inter Milan.
And he has already identified Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku as his top transfer target, according to reports.
Former Chelsea boss Conte is to take over from Luciano Spalletti in the San Siro this hotseat summer.
Conte will earn 190 million euros (£9million) per year and will be tasked with turning Inter back into title contenders and ending Juventus's eight-year hegemony at the top of Italy's Serie A.
The news of Conte's imminent appointment was reported by Goal , while Football Italia said the 49-year-old coach had already signed a preliminary contract with Inter, with an official agreement to be signed on May 28.
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Conte will make Lukaku his first target after the striker found himself out of favour at Old Trafford, according to The Times .
Former Italy international Conte will be pitted against his former club when he takes over at Inter. Conte is a Juventus legend, having won five top-flight Italian titles with the Turin club as a player, as well as the Champions League in 1995-96.
He also led the team to three successive three Serie A titles while managing the Old Lady from 2011 until 2014.
He has been linked with a return to Juventus with Max Allegri leaving, but Inter Milan appear to have got in there first with an offer for Conte.
Conte joined Chelsea as manager in 2016 and led them to a Premier League title and an FA Cup win, but was sacked in 2018 after the club finished fifth in the Premier League, missing out on Champions League qualification.
The Blues were this week ordered to pay £9million compensation to Conte after he was the ninth manager sacked during the Roman Abramovich reign.
And current incumbent Maurizio Sarri appears to be following his predecessor out of the door.
The 60-year-old insists he wants to stay, that his future will be decided after the Europa League Final against Arsenal next Wednesday and that he is determined to see out the remaining two years of his contract.
Chelsea face Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku, Azerbaijan on May 29.