In the title-winning 2024-25 campaign, Conte counted on Romelu Lukaku as his first-choice striker, with the big Belgian repaying his manager’s faith by scoring 14 goals and delivering 10 assists to fire Napoli to their second Serie A title in three seasons. However, the former Chelsea, Inter and Manchester United striker suffered an unfortunate long-term injury in a pre-season friendly, which forced the defending champions to explore the market for a new striker.
They gambled on Hojlund, who spent two underwhelming seasons at Old Trafford. The move, in hindsight, is proving to be a masterstroke so far, as the Danish forward seems to have regained his lost confidence. In fact, it will be hard for Lukaku to regain his spot in Conte’s XI once he recovers, as Hojlund is showing just the sort of form which makes him one of the first names on the team sheet at the moment.
Speaking to reporters after the 2-1 win over Genoa last weekend, in which Hojlund scored his team’s second goal, Conte said: “He’s a 22-year-old who was on the sidelines at Manchester United. He has significant room for improvement, he needs to work because he has the potential to become a star, and he’s proving it.”
Hojlund started his Napoli career with a bang, scoring just 14 minutes into his debut for his new employers as he opened the scoring in his team’s 3-1 win over Fiorentina last month. Last week, he scored a vital brace in the Champions League in the Partenopei’s 2-1 win over Sporting CP, before rounding off the week with another goal against Genoa.
The former Atalanta striker appears to be on course to meet the conditions required for Napoli to finalize the €44 million (£38m/$51m) purchase of the Dane next summer, with the player also keen to make his move to Napoli permanent. He could follow in the footsteps of his ex-Manchester United team-mate Scott McTominay, who has become a household name at the Serie A club ever since his move to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium last summer.
