Lukaku reunites with Conte as Napoli transfer confirmed

Romelu Lukaku has ended his second spell with Chelsea after his move to Napoli was confirmed on Thursday.

Lukaku, who spent last season on loan with Roma, has signed a three-year contract for a reported £38million fee, reuniting with former Inter coach Antonio Conte.

The Belgian scored 15 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions during his second spell at Stamford Bridge after his £97.5m move from Inter in 2021.

Lukaku’s 24 Serie A strikes helped Conte win Inter’s 19th title in the 2020-21 campaign, but upon his return to Stamford Bridge, he found himself surplus to requirements after an underwhelming first season.

The striker returned to Inter on loan before joining Roma last term, scoring 21 goals in 47 appearances, seven of which came in the Europa League as I Giallorossi reached the semi-finals of the competition.

Romelu is proud to be one of us!

#ProudToBeNapoli | #ForzaNapoliSempre | #WelcomeLukaku pic.twitter.com/Z4R4x4LVkz

— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) August 29, 2024

He produced an expected goals (xG) of 0.33 per 90 last season, the third-highest of the players in Roma’s squad in Serie A, behind Paulo Dybala (0.48) and Sardar Azmoun (0.47).

Among Roma players, only Dybala (10.59) registered more expected goals in Serie A last season than Lukaku (9.83).

Lukaku also led Roma’s squad in shots (65) and shots on target (28) in the league last term. However, his 20% shot conversion rate ranked sixth best out of the players to feature for the club at least 10 times in Italy’s top flight.

Lukaku has scored 47 goals in 72 appearances under Conte in Europe’s top five leagues, at an average of 125 minutes per goal. Under no coach has Lukaku scored more goals than Conte.