Romelu Lukaku is “under contract” at Manchester United but admits he cannot guarantee that he will be at Old Trafford for the 2019-20 campaign.
Questions of the Belgium international’s future are being asked heading towards the summer transfer window.
The 25-year-old has done little to curb those rumours by admitting that he retains a “dream” to play in Serie A “sooner or later”.
Juventus and Inter are among those said to be monitoring his situation in England ahead of a possible formal approach.
Were United to miss out on Champions League qualification this season, as they sit sixth in the Premier League table, then interest may be stepped up.
Lukaku is reluctant to speculate on what the next few weeks could hold, telling reporters after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday when quizzed on his future: “Me? I don’t know. I am not here to entertain rumours. I am still under contract.”
His current deal with United is due to run until 2021.
He has recorded another 15 goals this season, having managed 27 in his debut campaign with the Red Devils.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is, however, expected to oversee a number of comings and goings in the next window.
Lukaku may form part of that process, as could Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea.
United’s No. 1 has seen uncharacteristic errors creep into his game of late, against a backdrop of contract extension talks, and he is another said to be generating interest from afar.
A number of team-mates, as well as Solskjaer, have already spoken out in support of a four-time Player of the Year, though, and Lukaku believes he remains integral to the Red Devils’ plans.
He added on a colleague enduring a tough time: “He has been the best player at the club since when? Seven or eight years consistently.
“I don’t think we should discredit him and suddenly say he is a bad goalkeeper. He has saved us so many times.
“It happens to strikers, it happens to midfielders and now it is happening to him. He has to learn from it. We are here to support him and he is strong.
“He had a bad time at the start of his United career as I remember and he was just a kid then but came through it.
“He did what he had to do then, turned it round, won trophies and became the best player at the club and he is a leader in the dressing room. Now it is up to us as a team to help him and trust his abilities.”
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