With Antonio Conte today confirmed as the new manager of Inter, it looks increasingly likely that the club will make a move for Manchester United’s wantaway striker Romelu Lukaku.

Conte was today quoted as saying there has been no meetings between the club and Lukaku, but his admiration for the Belgian hit man dates a long way back. Conte originally wanted to sign the Manchester United striker in 2017, and plans on making him the focal point for his Inter side.

Lukaku himself has spoken recently about his desire to move to Italy saying “Serie A is a dream, it would really be a dream. I hope I can play there at some point.”

It had been thought that Inter would attempt to use long term United target Ivan Perisic in the deal to bring Lukaku to the San Siro, but United have since said that they would not be interested a swap deal for the Belgian striker, and are demanding a fee of around €80m for him.

Manchester United have long been admirers of Perisic, especially under Mourinho who tended to target more experienced players, but it is thought now that, under Solskjaer, the club are now looking to sign more youthful targets in a bid to revitalise the playing squad.

With the fee for Lukaku likely to be €80m, it remains to be seen whether Inter can summon the necessary financial firepower to convince United to let him go, but the signs suggest that they may significantly loosen the purse strings for Antonio Conte. He has signed a deal that makes him the highest paid manager in Serie A by some distance, and the club are finally free of the financial restraints imposed on them by FFP regulations. Money is also likely to be raised by player sales, most notably Mauro Icardi, who seems unlikely to be a good fit for Conte who demands strong work ethic and selflessness from his players.

Time will tell whether Inter are ready to offer the sort of money necessary to sign global superstars like Lukaku, but the signs are this may be the dawn of a new era for them, with Conte handed funds needed to rebuild the squad into one that can play in his image. And while the transfer saga involving Perisic looks set to continue, we could be reaching a conclusion of the one involving Belgium’s all-time record goalscrorer.