GRAND LU-LA

Romelu Lukaku was nine years old when the Brazilian Ronaldo left Inter in 2002 – but the sight of Il Fenomeno bearing down on hapless defenders remained with the Belgian in his formative years.

So, when newly installed Nerazzurri coach Antonio Conte came calling in the summer of 2019, the forward immediately wanted in. It felt like destiny.

Conte had tried to sign Lukaku at Juventus five years earlier, and the Turin giants were in direct competition with Inter for a second time: offering Paulo Dybala as part of a swap deal and keen to see how the talisman would team up with Cristiano Ronaldo. Inter’s first bid had been turned down, but Manchester United encouraged them to give it