Gazzetta: Napoli, Lukaku eyes Super Cup return | OneFootball

Gazzetta – Napoli, Lukaku is speeding up his recovery: he wants to return for the Supercup

But what strange feelings, in these endless afternoons—gym and pool, therapy and boredom, and not even a ball to hug and take to bed like a child in love with football. Since August 14, the race against time has had to be faced alone, as Romelu Lukaku is doing, shutting himself in a bubble and watching the hourglass as its grains of sand mark the seconds, minutes, hours: 63 days have passed, and it feels as if time stopped on that afternoon in Castel di Sangro, the recovery against the Olympiacos defender in the last friendly before the holidays, and the shot that turned into a wild miss, because by then what no one expected had already happened, but his pained face told the story. “High-grade tear of the rectus femoris in the left thigh.” And what else is there to add, except the despair in his eyes and the certainty of being trapped in a tunnel at least a hundred days long? And right in the summer when he was having so much fun training with Conte’s preseason, which had been denied to him twelve months earlier. Now, sunrises and sunsets are exactly the same as before and after, they have meaning but also bring a touch of melancholy: but in a month, maybe a little more, Lukaku will return to Castel Volturno, meet with the medical staff, tell in person what he’s now whispering over the phone, talk again about the program he’s been following in Belgium, and try to make it, sticking to a schedule that can only be indicative.

There’s a date circled in blue: December 18, 2025, Riyadh, Supercup semifinal against Milan, a team that usually brings him luck, since eleven wins in fourteen matches are significant, and those seven goals and two assists make an impact. There’s nothing wrong with being superstitious, as Eduardo would have said, “maybe it’s ignorant, but not being superstitious brings bad luck.” And so, if you have to start again somewhere, better to do it in your own special derby and in a competition where adrenaline burns up quickly, almost without noticing. Napoli could add him to the squad at any time, removing another player. And Romelu wants to be there, in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the phone calls pile up, the conversations are regular, the preparation continues, and caution must prevail, because his body can’t afford any “attacks” from unnecessary accelerations: protocols are a guarantee, and trying to rush things isn’t worth it, especially since Hojlund is taking care of things for himself and for Romelu, filling his spot and space on the pitch in his own way—by scoring. If he wants to express his happiness, there are always social media, which, for someone with eight million Instagram followers, is a stage worth frequenting: the “wow, wow, wow, these are the best wins” after Anguissa’s goal against Cagliari became a resounding shout and helped Lukaku release the tension that would otherwise trouble him. But now, keeping it to himself, there’s something else to do: set the more or less exact time to return to the pitch and give Conte two more shoulders to lean on when the going gets even tougher. That’s when Lukaku wants to get back to playing. Starting from himself: 14 goals with Napoli, 404 in his career. To pass the time, there’s plenty to watch.

Carlo Gioia

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.