Inter get their Serie A campaign underway on August 26 when they host Lecce at San Siro, and Antonio Conte will hope that they can make a positive start.
The Italian tactician replaced Luciano Spalletti as coach this summer, and after a busy summer transfer window bringing in quality reinforcements, he will be tasked with toppling Juventus in the Scudetto battle as well as competing in the Champions League.
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As noted by BBC Sport, the Nerazzurri’s marquee signing this summer was Romelu Lukaku, who arrived in a £74m deal from Manchester United on deadline day.
The Belgian forward wasted little time in proving his quality as he bagged four goals on his debut in a pre-season friendly, and it seems as though Conte wants him to get more minutes under his belt ahead of the start of the new season.
According to Calciomercato, via the paper edition of Tuttosport, it’s reported that the Inter boss wants to organise another friendly this weekend, the last before the new season starts.
It’s added that it’s specifically to help Lukaku and other players who are still catching up in terms of match fitness to get up to speed and get that sharpness back ready for their first outing rather than use the competitive games to reach optimal fitness levels.
Lukaku failed to feature for United in pre-season as he was said to be struggling with an injury, while he then went to Anderlecht to continue training despite being expected to return to Carrington to continue his preparations with the Red Devils, as per HLN.
That being considered, it’s no surprise that he is perhaps playing catch up to his new teammates in Milan who have been busy training all summer, and so the idea of another run out might well be a sensible one from Conte to ensure that his star man is ready to fire in the goals for his side immediately.
