Juventus fans storm stadium pitch to protest against potential Romelu Lukaku signing

Juventus fans protesting the Italian club’s bid to rope in Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku thundered onto the pitch during a practice match with Juventus Next Gen. The protestors were as much opposed to Lukaku, who’d scored against Juventus while playing for Inter Milan (the arch-rivals) last season, as they were supportive of retaining current striker Dusan Vlahovic. The crowds started with sloganeering as soon as the match, which the seniors won 8-0, kicked off.

This comes after a fanatical fan group, Curva Sud Ultra, unfurled a banner telling Lukaku to stay away, which read: ‘Lukaku stay in Milan, we already have a second goalkeeper’. The mocking message refers to the Champions League final when Lukaku accidentally blocked Federico Dimarco’s goalbound effort in Inter’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City Lukaku’s parent club Chelsea and the Italian club Juventus are reportedly in negotiations for a barter. Juventus are planning for a swap deal in which Vlahovic would move to London for Lukaku. Chelsea earlier this summer rejected a 26 million euros bid from Inter Milan for Lukaku. Meanwhile, Lukaku, according to Daily Mail, is open to move to Juventus. Reportedly he wasn’t very thrilled with Inter after being left out of the starting line-up at the Champions League final. So far as Vlahovic is concerned, the English club was earlier willing to shell out over 38 million euros for a deal. But now, reportedly, the club manager Mauricio Pochettino is not as convinced about having him.