Romelu Lukaku signs with Napoli: Belgian striker reunites with Antonio Conte and returns to Serie A

One of the longest transfer sagas of the 2024 summer transfer window is now finally over: Romelu Lukaku will play for Napoli in the 2024-25 season after the Azzurri have reached an agreement with Chelsea for the Belgian striker. Lukaku, who is now 31 years old, will join Napoli after the Italian side agreed to a €30 million fee plus add-ons worth around €15 million with the English team and he will make his third return to Serie A after playing for Inter and then AS Roma last season on loan. 

Lukaku signed a three-year deal until the summer 2027 and will earn around €8 million per season, as reported by Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio. Big Rom will reunite with his mentor and former coach Antonio Conte, who strongly wanted him this summer at Napoli as the Italian club decided to part ways with Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen, who is still officially on the roster, but not included in the squad as of now. Napoli, at first, were waiting to sell Osimhen before signing Lukaku, but considering the Osimhen situation is still stuck in neutral, the Azzurri accelerated Lukaku's signing in the last week of the summer transfer window. 

Conte wanted to sign Lukaku for the first time when he was at Chelsea, but then he ended up signing with Manchester United in the summer of 2017. Two years later, when Conte joined Inter, Lukaku became the main target for the Nerazzurri and finally signed with the Italian side after Juventus tried to hijack the deal. Again, two years later, Inter sold Lukaku to Chelsea in the summer 2021 after Conte also left the club, for a record fee of €115 million. The Chelsea spell was not successful at all and Lukaku made his comeback at Inter one year later on loan. 

The Lukaku saga at Inter didn't end up well. Inter and Chelsea agreed a deal in the summer 2023 for a permanent transfer, but the striker decided to not sign with the Nerazzurri leaving both clubs speechless. A few weeks later, AS Roma and his former manager Jose Mourinho managed to get him on a season loan from Chelsea. Lukaku made his much awaited comeback at San Siro a few months later, playing against his former teammates and fans. 

Now, after another difficult summer, the Belgian striker managed to have the chance to play again under his mentor Conte, who was eager to work with his favorite striker again, after winning the Scudetto at Inter together in 2021. The question now is, will they be able to recreate that successful partnership at Napoli as well? Meanwhile, the club now need to find a solution for Osimhen in the last hours of the transfer window to avoid a disastrous situation where the want away striker remains stuck on their books.