Napoli, the 'award-winning Lukaku-McTominay partnership' rekindles the Scudetto dream

Naples, April 15, 2025 - For Antonio Conte the championship has to thank the Napoli to keep the fight for the Scudetto alive: in reality, the Napoli he has to thank himself for finding himself with full merit in 3 points from the top of the rankings, and therefore from theInter, in the hot phase of a season that started with very different auspices. And yet, perhaps through gritted teeth, this Napoli since the summer it had all the appearance of being built to achieve something (much) more than the 'simple' return to Europe, maybe from the main door of the Champions League: the two men who solved the case are there to remember it in every possible way Empoli with an important hat-trick that, at this point, reverses the roles and the honour of the pressure sends him back to the Nerazzurri pitch.

Lukaku's numbers this season

Romelu Lukaku e Scott McTominay, the real winning couple capable of resisting the storms that have not been lacking in the Campania capital, between injury emergencies and related shake-ups in terms of formation and tactics. If in these folds it has been lost James Raspadori, disappeared from the radar along with that 3-5-2 however useful to stem the most serious haemorrhage of the season in terms of absences, the return of 4-3-3 has brought back into fashion the perhaps even more heated axis in which the only constant is the Belgian striker, since yesterday evening officially the first (and so far only) player in Serie A to have achieved the so-called 'double double' of goals and assists: in order, 12 goal e 10 winning passes, to which we can add the additional one found in the very brief adventure of the Napoli in Coppa Italia.

Important numbers

Important numbers, just as those for entering the new team were: 30 million paid into the coffers of Chelsea, plus the 30% on the possible future resale with a minimum of 15 million, to which we add a salary of 6 million net (7,8 million gross), for a total impact on the current season equal to also considering the amortization of 22,86 million. Heavy figures as it is, in every sense, precisely Lukaku, the dream bomber of Tale but perhaps not of a place with a refined palate that, as such, has struggled to appreciate a striker who does not offer much in terms of style and perhaps not even continuity. And yet, when Big Rome turn, turn all the way around Napoli, and vice versa. It is no coincidence that in the Azzurri's big seasonal flops, the worst marks were received by the class of '93: honours and burdens of when one becomes, knowingly or not, the pillar of a new project. Probably, apart from the usual recurring complaints throughout his career that have in fact accompanied him in every adventure, in Italy and abroad, maybe Lukaku not everyone agrees, also because of the figures he brings with him, which are not echoed by the obvious leadership drive that fans often want to see. But is it really like that? In reality, the Italian dressing room has recognized in the Belgian from the beginning a sort of extension of Tale, who in turn has chosen his most faithful player as the link between the bench and the team. This is a plus: when then Lukaku scoring goals and assists reminds everyone, beyond mere stylistic opinions, of the type of player he is. And if he then finds in McTominay the ideal partner, then it is precisely the whole that flies Napoli.

McTominay's numbers this season

The Scotsman himself, although perhaps a little too quietly, wore blue at the end of the summer transfer window for 30,5 million, plus the 10% on the possible future resale to be paid to the Manchester United, before leaving which he had also experienced fleeting apparitions in Premier League and Community Shield, For a total of 49 ' in the field in distributed in 3 tokens not unforgettable. Of a different opinion was and is the adventure at Napoli, embellished so far by 8 goal in the championship (more 1 in Coppa Italia) to 4 assists: even in this case, between the purchase price and the offensive turnover, to which we can also add a lot of defensive output, these are not exactly numbers 'only' to get back to Europe. Anyway, whatever he says Tale, this Napoli It has been built since the summer for something more, perhaps to be identified at the starting line of the championship as the role of disturber at the highest levels. The rest has been done and is being done right now Tale, pampering his most loyal followers, as indeed Lukaku e McTominay, but perhaps even more so the second lines, which are not by chance responding present now that the accident tax has returned to plague the headquarters of Castel Volturno.

Il Napoli, apart from the initial minutes of slight suffering, mostly due to a Empoli ever closer to the last resort, wins and convinces and this time it does so throughout the match, even growing in the second half. This was perhaps the last more or less pronounced criticality to be fixed before the final rush that will see the Azzurri engaged in clashes that on paper are not prohibitive, starting with the visit to the home of a Monza now almost condemned to relegation.

Napoli puts pressure on Inter

This time it will be the Napoli to put pressure on theInter, who will play after and will do it on the pitch of Bologna, conquered only once this season. For some, the weekend of Easter could be the right one to start the operation of getting closer in the standings, if not even catching up. What is certain is that the Azzurri will not lack weapons, starting with the returning players Giovanni Di Lorenzo e Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who have served their disqualification round. Then at theU Power Stadium there will be the 'award winning company' Lukaku - McTominay', two players who are doing each other a lot of good and who, together, are doing it at Napoli, perhaps unconsciously built since the summer to try to caress the tricolour dream again.

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