How Romelu Lukaku's injury could reshape the Serie A title race and Napoli's 2025-26 preseason strategy

With mere days to go before the start of the 2025-26 Serie A season, Napoli received a big setback with star striker Romelu Lukaku undergoing a medical test following an injury suffered during the friendly match against Olympiacos. The Belgian striker's evaluation "revealed a high-grade injury to the rectus femoris muscle in his left thigh" and he will "also undergo surgical consultation."

According to multiple reports Lukaku is set to miss at least three months of action and the team coached by Antonio Conte might now need to look for a new attacking player in the last days of the summer transfer window, despite already signing Lorenzo Lucca from Udinese earlier this summer for around $30 million. Lukaku's injury is sure to have a big impact on the title race, as the former Chelsea player was one of the most important players on Napoli's march to their fourth Scudetto during the 2024-25 season thanks not only to his goals, but also his leadership. 

Lukaku has a special working relationship with Antonio Conte, since the Italian manager wanted him at Chelsea but then failed to sign him when he was on the bench of the Premier League giants. The two finally had their first chance to work together during the two years Conte was hired at Inter, managing to win the 2020-21 Serie A title with the Nerazzurri when Lukaku performed at his best, scoring 64 goals in two seasons before joining Chelsea in the summer 2021 for a record fee of $115 million. The following years, when Lukaku returned on loan to Inter, things were not the same, and despite scoring some key goals he decided to not join the Nerazzurri on a permanent deal and joined AS Roma for one year before finally going back to work under Conte. In his first year at Napoli, Lukaku scored 14 goals in 36 matches played in the league, managing also to win his second Serie A title together with the Italian coach. 

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In the summer 2025 Napoli decided to sign another central striker who could rotate with Lukaku as the Azzurri will also be back playing Champions League soccer this season, after both Giovanni Simone and Giacomo Raspadori left the Italian club during the current transfer session to join Torino and Atletico Madrid. The team owned by Aurelio de Laurentiis signed Lorenzo Lucca from Udinese to help Conte have depth for rotation, but this injury will now not only load pressure on the Italian striker since he'll be asked to perform and score goals starting from day one of the season.

That's why it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team change plans and get aggressive ahead of the last days of the summer transfer window. If Napoli sign another central striker, it means they believe Lukaku's comeback will be challenging and can affect their chances to keep the Serie A title after winning the past edition. Ideally Napoli can sign a player who can function as both central striker and winger, so when both Lucca and Lukaku become available, hopefully before the end of the year, whoever they bring in can still meaningfully contribute. 

In the meantime, Conte is expected to change his tactical plans ahead of the first game of the season and the new signing of Kevin de Bruyne can definitely help the Italian manager to cope with the absence of his national teammate Lukaku. De Bruyne is expected to debut in Napoli's first game against Sassuolo on August 23, 2025, partnering with 2024-25 Serie A MVP Scott McTominay in midfield. As Napoli explore attacking options in the coming days, the De Bruyne-McTominay midfield duo could prove pivotal in shaping the team's success for the 2025-26 campaign.

Napoli were lucky this injury happened when the transfer window is still open, so that they can make another signing before the deadline on September 1 this year. On the other hand, while the club and the manager are evaluating the options, they should remember how Lukaku struggled during the 2022-23 season when he was at Inter to recover from a muscular injury, which affected his game time and then led to his controversial departure with the Nerazzurri in the summer 2023. Given his physical profile, Lukaku requires extended recovery periods to regain his best performance, a factor likely causing Napoli significant concern and leading the team coached by Antonio Conte to possibly look for a new striker in the last days of the summer transfer window.