Napoli, the numbers of Lukaku's crisis

Naples, 12 December 2024 - The popularity of the central striker is subject to many fluctuations, almost all linked to the harvest in the goal area. The medicine to make everyone agree is precisely the goals: simply put, the more you score, the more the so-called number 9 on duty enters the hearts of his fans. Of course, the quantity counts, but the distribution of the turnover also counts: if there are long fasts between one goal and another, then the relationship risks becoming complicated. If the striker in question is called Romelu Lukaku, then everything is more difficult: even and above all in a place that in recent years has been accustomed to enjoying some of the best goal scorers on the continent.

The transition from Osimhen to Lukaku

Da Edinson Cavani a Gonzalo Higuain, passing through that Victor Osimhen which does not (yet) exactly belong to the past: in the area of Fuorigrotta, just to not go too far back in time, in recent years very strong strikers have passed through and then, not surprisingly, resold for a lot of money. To the multitude of goals scored these and other strikers combined a wise and meticulous work for the team: a lethal mix that has made them undisputed idols despite the initial doubts. He knows this well osimhen, the most recent past that occasionally comes back to the surface, either due to a contractual situation that sees him away only on loan to Galatasaray and you want because, having put his signature on the shield of the 2022-2023 season, his name is now a term of comparison for any successor. Yet, even the Nigerian had a tough time at the beginning. Taken from Lille for the monstrous sum of 76,5 million gross (66,5 million net more 10 million bonus), to which we can add the (controversial) registrations of young players included in the deal, the first osimhen blue struggled to immediately demonstrate its value precisely because of the very heavy price tag hanging on its neck. The rest is a well-known story: beautiful, yes, but interspersed with several more or less serious storms, between serious injuries, character tantrums with the environment and the club and a decidedly unromantic post-scudetto in the sign of the most classic of 'stomach aches' that not even a renewal at record prices, a constant of its adventure in the shadow of Vesuvius, was able to soothe. The rest was done by Antonio Conte: not even the arrival on the bench of such a renowned coach could mend the rift. Indeed, why osimhen he began to dig his heels in and, for his part, the Salento coach put pressure on the Neapolitan club to get him a striker with characteristics more suited to his tactical ideas. Without even needing to consult too many pages of the archives of the protégés of Tale, the name of Lukaku is the first on the list: perhaps the only one. And so, even more so after having convinced the signing of such a sought-after and successful coach at the dawn of reconstruction and without being able to offer him the showcase of any European competition, an unprecedented Aurelio De Laurentiis is forced to follow to the letter the new inputs coming from the market front. Despite this, the push and pull with the Chelsea It was long and exhausting: at stake were the costs and the formula of an operation more complex than it might seem at first sight, involving a player on the fringes of his own club, who in turn had to deal with an extra-large squad to dispose of in the space of a few weeks. The 'cut' to Lukaku in the end he is there, but not at a bargain price: after many loan spells, the Belgian is moving towards the Campania capital on a permanent basis for 30 million plus a percentage on the future resale. This is the cost of the tag: then there is the salary from 6,5 million net, about 10,5 million gross, which has partly nullified the savings for the club's coffers given by the (temporary) departure of osimhen. All this without forgetting the long-running thrill down your spine. De Laurentiis and the rest of the headquarters of Castel Volturno before the blitz of Galatasaray which solved a big problem for a few months.

Lukaku's numbers

Having overcome the economic aspect, which probably affects the fans the least, we have moved on to that of mere sporting performance. As is the house specialty, Lukaku he also started off like a rocket in blue: a goal on his debut and Napoli immediately crazy about him. A script that, to remain alone in Italy, they had already known Inter e Roma. And then? In reality, numbers in hand, the class of '93 hasn't done badly so far: 5 goal e 5 assists in 15 attendance in blue do not represent a negative loot. On the contrary. But beyond the numbers, we know, there is much more and in the Lukaku of the last few weeks there is much less. Few shots, obviously even fewer goals and, in general, the feeling of being almost a foreign body in the context of the maneuver of the Napoli, who is not by chance facing many problems in the offensive zone, as demonstrated by the data that sees him at sixth place among the best attacks of the Serie A. The merciless comparison is often given by the entry from the bench of Giovanni Simeone, who in fewer minutes does more and better than the designated starter, who hasn't scored in 217 '. In reality, long intervals are not new: between the network and Monza and the penalty converted against the As an they passed 253 'The clock stopped at 238 ' to then punish him at home Milan, before another big break (318 ') before the winning goal (as a former player) against Roma. So, the goals are there too, but interspersed with deserts of nothing: long throws from the back often prey to the defenders on duty, a lot of fighting and little mobility. What are increasing instead are the whistles and the protests of a crowd seduced from the start with lightning speed and now already disappointed: even in this case, the progress is not unprecedented.

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