Lukaku on convincing De Bruyne, helping Lucca and ‘tougher’ Conte | OneFootball

Romelu Lukaku reveals Kevin De Bruyne needed absolutely no convincing to come to Napoli and Antonio Conte is ‘tougher than ever,’ but Lorenzo Lucca can play alongside them both.

The centre-forward pushed to join the Partenopei last summer and proved instrumental in winning the Scudetto, just as he had under Antonio Conte at Inter.

Now he hopes fellow Belgium international De Bruyne can experience the joys of Serie A in the same way.

Lukaku relishing life with De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Lucca in pre-season training with Napoli.

“I didn’t have to give him any advice or convince him of anything. De Bruyne is a very down to earth guy, he’s all about family,” Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia, referencing the fact they have known each other since they were 13 years old.

“I asked him to just be a protagonist at Napoli the same way he was at Manchester City and for Belgium. I am very happy he is here, but it was his decision to come here.”

The opportunity to work with Conte is one of the reasons De Bruyne decided to give up more lucrative proposals from MLS and the Saudi Pro League to choose Napoli.

“Conte is tougher than ever!” laughed Lukaku.

“That’s natural, he is a coach who always tries to improve himself and his players. This is our mantra: ‘Always give your best’ every single day. I think we are working well, but we all know that we can always do more too.”

REGGIO NELL’EMILIA, ITALY – JUNE 9: Lorenzo Lucca of Italy during the FIFA 2026 Qualifier between Italy and Moldova at Mapei Stadium – Citta’ del Tricolore on June 09, 2025 in Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

There are more new additions to the squad too, as Lucca has completed his transfer from Udinese for just under €30m.

Although on paper the Italy international is Lukaku’s understudy, the Belgian insists that is not necessarily the case.

“I am trying to help him out with tactical movements, because we have a lot of specific routines that he needs to learn. He’s a good lad and can really help us out, for example with the way he attacks the penalty area.

“We have an extra weapon with him to defend the Scudetto, and he can help me out too if we play together, because we do have different characteristics, although of course that all depends on what the coach decides.”