Manchester United have turned down a £54million bid for Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.
News of the rejected offer came just before United faced off against Inter in Singapore as part of the International Champions Cup pre-season schedule.
Inter boss Antonio Conte has publicly admitted that Lukaku is his top transfer priority and wants to get the deal over the line.
The Serie A club's chiefs finally made an official offer this weekend, but the £54million fell short of United's valuation of Lukaku.
United want £90million for Lukaku, whom they signed from Everton for £75m in 2017, but Inter only want to pay £60m, plus a further £15m in add-ons.
Former Chelsea boss Conte spoke for the first time about his pursuit of Lukaku and confirmed has is keen for a swift deal to be concluded for the Belgium international.
Asked if he was frustrated at Inter's failure to sign Lukaku, Conte said: “I think frustration is a big word. Lukaku is United's player, this is the reality.
“I like this player, but also in the past, when I was Chelsea's coach, and I tried to bring him in Chelsea. But today Lukaku is a player of United and this the reality and the truth.
“I think that in this moment we are talking about a player of another club and for this reason it's right not to talk about Lukaku, because he's a player of United.
“I consider this player important to us to have a great improvement, but at the same time there is a transfer market. We know our situation at the moment and we will see what happens.”
