Repubblica: Milan held talks over signing of Lukaku – the background on the operation

By Oliver Fisher -

Inter striker Romelu Lukaku could have turned out for the other side of Milan if things had gone a bit differently, a report claims.

Lukaku and the Nerazzurri will square off against Milan in a crucial derby this afternoon at San Siro with the two sides currently occupying the top two spots in the table.

However, La Repubblica (via MilanLive) reports that Lukaku could very well have been attached to the red half of the city rather than the blue side, as the Belgian centre-forward was courted by the Rossoneri 10 years ago.

At the time, Lukaku was playing for Anderlecht and Carmine Longo – the then-manager of Bologna – scouted live a very young but already exceptional talent with a statuesque physique and innate offensive qualities.

Longo called Adriano Galliani – the former Milan CEO – to help bring him to Italy. The idea was to find some kind of co-ownership agreement for Lukaku in which he would initially play for Bologna and then, after maturing, pass into the hands of Milan.

In the end, however, nothing came of it. There was no agreement between Anderlecht and the two Italian clubs because of issues related to percentages and commissions.

Tags AC Milan Romelu Lukaku
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