The dispute between SSC Napoli and Romelu Lukaku threatens to escalate. The Belgian striker does not want to continue his rehab in Italy as requested by the club and is staying away from the training ground. Now the club wants to take action.
The conflict has been simmering and now there is a threat of an eruption at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. In a terse statement on Tuesday afternoon, SSC Napoli announced “that the player Romelu Lukaku has not complied with the request to resume training today”. The burly striker is instead in Belgium to recover from his long-term injury.
The Italian champions had already asked Lukaku to carry out the measures in Naples last week. However, the striker refused, preferring to get fit in his Belgian homeland with a private trainer and focus on the World Cup in the summer. Lukaku is said to be unhappy with the Italians’ medical department. “There’s nothing I’d rather do than play and win for my team,” Lukaku wrote on social media on Sunday. “But right now I have to make sure I’m 100 percent fit. I haven’t been recently and that has taken its toll mentally.”
Lukaku, who shot Napoli to the Scudetto last season with 14 goals in 36 games, suffered a serious injury to his right thigh during a test match in August and was out of action for months. He only made his comeback at the end of January and has only played seven games as a substitute since then.
Rehab in Belgium instead of Naples
During the international break, the 32-year-old had himself examined in Belgium, where doctors diagnosed an inflammation in his hip flexor muscles. “I opted for rehab in Belgium to be ready when I’m needed,” Lukaku wrote. Last Friday, Napoli gave the striker an ultimatum to return to Naples by March 31, otherwise he would be suspended. Lukaku has now let this ultimatum pass.
As the Gazzetta dello Sport reports, the club has already imposed a fine on Lukaku as a first step, with further consequences to follow. “The club reserves the right to consider taking appropriate disciplinary measures as well as the continuation of the player’s activity in the team for an indefinite period,” the club’s statement reads. Official sanctions have not yet been announced. It does not seem impossible that Lukaku has already played his last game for Napoli.