Man Utd striker Romelu Lukaku ruled out of Tottenham clash as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defends tour decision

Romelu Lukaku has been ruled out for the fourth friendly in succession for Manchester United due to an ankle injury.

Lukaku missed the wins over Perth Glory, Leeds United and Inter Milan, while he will also sit out the all-Premier League affair against Tottenham here on Thursday.

That means that the striker has yet to play a single minute on United's pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.

Lukaku is intent on leaving United this summer, but the club are adamant Inter that will have to meet their £80million asking price if he is to go.

The Italians had a bid of £54m rejected over the weekend.

Despite Lukaku’s inaction, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer defended his decision to bring him on tour.

“Lukaku won’t be fit,” he said. “He’s been working with a physio the last few days so he won’t make this one either.

“He got injured in training so he had to stay here. It’s not too bad. If it was worse, we’d have sent him home. I don’t regret it.

“Of course it’s never nice to be a player who misses out on important fitness work and team understanding and tactical approach. He’ll just have to make up later on then.”

While Lukaku remains out, Victor Lindelof has overcome the thigh injury that saw him go off in United’s 1-0 win against Inter on Saturday.