Lukaku's agent 'ashamed' of Corriere dello Sport's 'Black Friday' headline

Romelu Lukaku's agent says he is "ashamed" by Corriere dello Sport's 'Black Friday' headline in Thursday's edition of the newspaper, adding that the player himself is unhappy about it.

The Italian daily has been accused of fuelling racism with its front page 'Black Friday' headline which the paper ran alongside pictures of Inter Milan striker Lukaku and Roma defender Chris Smalling.

The two former Manchester United team-mates will face each other in Friday's Serie A meeting between the two teams.

Lukaku's agent, Federico Pastorello, says authorities are not treating racism seriously after another high profile incident involving his client and claimed it was a wider "cultural" issue affecting society outside of football.

"Being Italian I'm really ashamed to read a title like that but I really don't want to talk about a single episode," Pastorello told Sky Sports News.

"At the end of the day the racist problem is a big problem. Unfortunately we are living in 1920. It's really a culture problem.

"Being an agent we are trying to protect our clients from this huge problem because it's not only a newspaper but it's a problem you can breathe in the stadium, in social media, on the street.

"I think it's a problem that is a culture problem. What I would like and wish for the future is institutions could take it more serious. There were some episodes in Champions League recently, also in Serie A games and the institution did not take so seriously the problem."

On the player's reaction to the headline, Pastorello added: "He is very sensitive on this problem. I like his attitude because he's facing it every time with strength and power.

"Not for him but the other players who are weaker than him and can't (impact on the issue).

"For sure he is not happy about that but he's strong enough to face it."