Lukaku suffers injury scare during Napoli friendly | OneFootball

Romelu Lukaku pulled up with a suspected thigh strain during today’s friendly match against Olympiacos and is likely to miss the first Napoli match of the season.

The striker had just taken a shot during the first half of the match when he fell and clutched the back of his left thigh.

He was substituted by Lorenzo Lucca and then sat on the bench with an ice-pack strapped to his leg.

Lukaku likely to miss Serie A opener

Romelu Lukaku, Noa Lang and Kevin De Bruyne in pre-season training with Napoli (Picture @noano via Instagram)

Initial suspicions are of a hamstring or thigh strain, which if confirmed would rule Lukaku out of the opening Serie A game of the season against Sassuolo.

It would be a significant blow for the Partenopei, who begin the defence of their title on August 23 at the Mapei Stadium.

The Belgian was instrumental in that Scudetto success after scoring 14 goals and providing 10 assists in 36 Serie A appearances for Napoli.

In case of his absence, Lucca would be the most likely alternative to start in attack against Sassuolo.