Romelu Lukaku has failed to show up to Napoli pre-season training once again.
The Belgian was due back this week ahead of the new Serie A season but has chosen to stay in his home country.
The situation is a repeat of when he went home for March friendlies and failed to return.
That time Napoli dealt out a serious financial punishment and Lukaku tried to defend himself by saying he’d recover from injury better at home.
Antonio Conte and the club were furious, and Lukaku has since been put up for sale.
Lukaku refuses to return to Napoli again
Yet despite that stance, he was still expected to show up under new coach Max Allegri.
It’s also claimed that his no-show at Abruzzo comes with the club seeking a transfer.
However, they did write in a statement: “By mutual agreement with the club, Romelu Lukaku will be granted a few days’ leave before re-joining the team.”
Napoli are Lukaku’s third Serie A club after Roma and two stints at Inter.
Yet it looks like he won’t be joining a third even though it may sound like it.
Where will Lukaku play next season?
The Belgian could be headed to MLS side Atlanta United, not Italian outfit Atalanta.
Gazzetta report that the US club have agreed to cover all of his substantial salary demands.
However, they’re not keen on the €10million transfer fee that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is demanding, having paid three times that to sign Lukaku in the first place.
There’s also the forever lurking possibility of a return to boyhood club Anderlecht.
Speaking in 2024, Lukaku suggested he would head back way earlier than expected.
“That return will definitely happen, much sooner than you might think,” he said.
“I miss my mother, my children. I left my country at eighteen.”
Napoli and Lukaku fight in public
When Lukaku first skipped Napoli training in March the club produced a damning statement.
They wrote: “SSC Napoli announces that the player Romelu Lukaku did not respond to today’s call-up for the resumption of training.
“The Club reserves the right to decide whether to take appropriate disciplinary action, as well as whether to continue the player’s activity with the squad on a permanent basis.”
It was then widely reported that he was hit with substantial fines.
He then responded with a repost that few fans took seriously.
Writing on social media, Lukaku said: “This season has been very challenging for me.
“Between the injury and the personal loss. I know there’s been a lot of noise about my situation in the last few days, and it’s important to clarify everything.
“The truth is that in the last few weeks I haven’t felt well physically.
“A check-up while I was in Belgium revealed inflammation and fluid in the iliopsoas muscle, near the scar tissue—it’s the second problem I’ve had since I returned at the beginning of November.
“I chose to rehab in Belgium so I can be ready when I’m called upon.
“I think most of you saw the interview I gave in Verona: I could never turn my back on Napoli, never. There’s nothing I want more than to play and help my team win… but right now I have to make sure I’m 100% fit, because I haven’t been lately, and that’s also taken a toll on me mentally.
“It’s been a lot this year… but in the end, I can do it. I will do it and help Napoli and the national team achieve their respective goals when I am called. That’s all I want.”
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