Antonio Conte sinks the blow on Romelu Lukaku

Although extremely satisfied with the net 4-0 with which his Napoli defeated Cremonese in Friday’s advance of the thirty-fourth day of Serie A, Antonio Conte has returned to talk about one of the burning issues in the Azzurri’s house this spring, the break between Romelu Lukaku and the club. The Salento coach did not hide and, at the microphones of ‘Dazn,’ explained the latest news.

“I have not had the opportunity to speak with Lukaku,” Conte said. I know one of our managers met him, he came by the sports center and my office was there, but no one knocked on the door. It made me really sorry: I would have expected at least a greeting, a message, something. In situations like that, the coach always tries to understand everyone, while too often no one takes the trouble to understand the coach.”

A long and troubled affair, the one that led to the break between Lukaku and Napoli. The Belgian’s last appearance on the pitch was on March 20, in the away match in Cagliari, where he remained on the bench for the entire 90 minutes. Since then, instead of returning to Castel Volturno as requested by the club, the 1993-class striker had chosen to train in Brussels with a personal trainer, repeatedly ignoring the club’s reminders. A situation that had prompted Napoli, on March 31, to take an official stance with a press release in which it reserved the right to take disciplinary action against the player.

Lukaku, due to a serious injury suffered last summer in a friendly match, had missed most of the season, making his return to the field only on January 25 against Juventus. In six total appearances he had collected just 69 minutes, with one goal of great importance: the 2-1 goal at 96′ in the Bentegodi away match against Hellas Verona last Feb. 28, which had given the Azzurri three crucial points in the Champions League race. It was a flash of class that had raised hopes of a decisive comeback for the center forward, before, however, the situation precipitated.