Kevin De Bruyne is set to spearhead Napoli’s Serie A title defense on Saturday as he makes his full debut against promoted Sassuolo, though the champions face a setback with star striker Romelu Lukaku sidelined by a long-term injury.
De Bruyne, arriving in Italy alongside veteran Luka Modric, has sparked excitement among fans eager to see him link up with Belgium teammate Lukaku to drive Napoli’s domestic and Champions League ambitions.
The 34-year-old, who endured hamstring injuries that limited his appearances in the last two seasons at Manchester City – where he won six Premier League titles and the 2023 Champions League – showed no signs of rust in Napoli’s recent 3-2 friendly win over Girona, scoring twice and assisting another.
With Antonio Conte remaining at the helm, Napoli enter the new season as strong contenders to retain the Scudetto.
“Competitively it’s a very nice place to be. They were champions last year, they showed that they have a lot of quality. Obviously it’s very different from what I had in England, but that’s something that is very exciting,” De Bruyne said last month.
“I feel like I have some motivation left and quality. I think I can still do something at this level… I think the main reason is that I wanted to play at the highest level.”
However, Lukaku’s thigh tear, suffered in a friendly win over Olympiakos, has thrown a spanner in the works, with the bustling center forward set to be out for months. Some Italian media report he might not return before 2026.
Napoli are now scrambling to reinforce an attack that had already received reinforcements in the form of towering Italian striker Lorenzo Lucca and Netherlands international Noa Lang, while the departures of Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori have further distanced the squad from the historic 2023 title-winning team.
Reinforcements
Giant Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic and Dutch center-back Sam Beukema have arrived to strengthen the defense, while a clutch of other signings is expected before the end of the summer transfer window.
Serial winner Conte’s refusal to return to Juventus, where he won heavily as both a player and coach, has given Napoli the stability they lost when Luciano Spalletti departed after their Scudetto victory two years ago.
Napoli will need it, with pretenders to their throne also active in the transfer market.
AC Milan brought in Modric and other interesting signings, including midfielders Samuele Ricci and Ardon Jashari, while recouping significant sums from the sales of Tijjani Reijnders, Malick Thiaw, and Joao Felix.
Inter Milan, who host Torino on Monday night, will aim to bounce back from ceding the Scudetto to Napoli and suffering a historic hammering in last season’s Champions League final.
They have done some smart business, signing lively forwards Ange-Yoan Bonny and Luis Enrique to lower the squad’s average age, but novice coach Cristian Chivu faces a tall order following Simone Inzaghi’s four-season legacy.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma have a tricky first outing against Bologna on Saturday as the capital club aims to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2018 and replace his former club Atalanta in the top four.
Under Ivan Juric, Atalanta have lost last season’s top scorer Mateo Retegui to Saudi Arabia and remain in open conflict with Ademola Lookman, who had trained in Portugal hoping to force a move to Inter that never materialized.
Juventus, without a league title in five years, will face Parma with new signing Jonathan David leading the line.
Content Source: www.dailysabah.com