Romelu Lukaku is close to Fenerbahce, and the story concerns the balance sheet more than the pitch. Last season the Belgian played five league games. His exit frees a place and a salary, not a tactical slot: that had already been filled. It does, though, open a more useful question than the usual one, which is not who arrives but which function this team actually needs.
Three jobs under one label
The word centre-forward describes a position, not a trade. Under that single label live at least three different jobs, and each asks the rest of the team for opposite movements.
| Function | Where he receives the ball | What he asks of the team | What breaks without him |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target man | Back to goal, on the edge or inside the box | Direct balls, midfielders arriving on the second ball | The team has no out-ball when it is pressed high |
| Depth runner | On the move, behind the defensive line | A high opposition line, a passer who sees the run | Transitions die in midfield |
| Link-up forward | Coming short, between the lines, often outside the box | Wingers and midfielders attacking the space he vacates | You reach the byline with an empty box |
None of the three is better than the others. They are choices that interlock with everything else: who builds, who occupies depth, how high the team is prepared to push its line.
A goodbye that had already happened on the pitch
The Lukaku case is useful precisely because it separates the market from the tactics. In his first season in Naples, the title-winning one, he was a genuine reference point: double figures in the league and, above all, the target-man function that let the team climb the pitch without always having to build from the back.
The second season told a different story. His league debut came only on matchday twenty-two, against Juventus, the total stopped at five appearances and one goal, and from 21 March a hip problem ended the argument. In the meantime Napoli finished second in Serie A behind Inter, and they did it with a different striker and a different function.
That is the point usually lost in the noise around fees: a team replaces a function long before it replaces a name.
What pre-season is saying
The Castel di Sangro camp began on 30 July, with three friendlies inside a week. On 8 August, against Celta Vigo, Allegri started in a 4-3-3: Milinkovic-Savic in goal, Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Rafa Marin and Olivera at the back, Anguissa, Lobotka and McTominay in midfield, Politano, Hojlund and Alisson Santos in front. In the final half hour the team moved to a 4-2-3-1, with Lucca coming on in that phase.
The dual shape is not a team-sheet detail, it is a specific demand on the centre-forward. In a 4-3-3 with wide forwards and midfielders breaking beyond, the striker works mostly vertically: he pins the centre-backs, attacks depth, opens the lane for the runners. In a 4-2-3-1 with a number ten behind him, the striker is instead asked to connect with whoever arrives, which means dropping and laying the ball off.
Hojlund, signed permanently from Manchester United in June 2026 after his loan, clearly belongs to the second category above: he lives on running and on space behind. In 2025-26 he finished with 16 goals in 44 matches, 12 of them in the league, where he was the club’s top scorer.
The problem of the second centre-forward
Once a team has chosen its main function, the real problem becomes the backup striker. There are two routes and they point in opposite directions.
The first is to sign a duplicate, a forward with the same characteristics. It costs less in adaptation, because the team does not have to change its movements when he comes off the bench, but it offers nothing when a match gets stuck.
The second is to sign the opposite, a different function to be used in-game. When the opponent defends deep and depth disappears, a forward who can come short and play between the lines changes the problem: he does not attack space that is not there, he creates new space by dragging a centre-back out of position. The price is that the team must learn to fill the box without him, with wingers and midfielders arriving from behind.
Among the names circulating in these hours is Gabriel Jesus, twenty-nine, out of contract at Arsenal in June 2027 and coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered in January 2025. He belongs precisely to that third category, the link-up one. The contacts have been reported by several outlets, the figures are indications rather than prices: the English press mentions an asking price of around eighteen million pounds, and nothing is settled.
The tactical reasoning holds regardless of the name, though: whoever arrives should not resemble the man leaving, he should complete the men staying.
What to watch before the season starts
Three signals will say more than any rumour.
The first is the height of the defensive line in the friendlies: if Napoli defend high and break long, the dominant function remains the depth runner. The second is where the striker receives in the 4-2-3-1: inside the box means it is a disguised 4-3-3, on the edge of the area means it really is a different team. The third is how many players enter the box on crosses: two means the side is playing with one centre-forward alone, four means the system has learned to do without a fixed reference point.
Replacing a striker shows up in those three details long before it shows up in the goals column.
Sources: official club communications, Italian and international sports press, public statistical archives, Wikipedia. References to negotiations and valuations come from press reports and should be read as unconfirmed rather than official.
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to call the centre-forward a function?
It means that one label covers several different jobs. A forward who receives with his back to goal so the team can climb the pitch and one who attacks the space behind the defence ask their team-mates for opposite movements, even though the team sheet puts them in the same place.
How many games did Lukaku play last season?
Very few: his league debut for the campaign came only on matchday twenty-two, against Juventus, and the total stopped at five appearances and one goal before a hip problem from 21 March. That is why his departure weighs on the wage bill more than on the pitch.
What shape is Napoli working with in pre-season?
In the friendly against Celta Vigo on 8 August, Allegri started in a 4-3-3 with Hojlund central between Politano and Alisson Santos, then switched to a 4-2-3-1 for the final half hour. The Castel di Sangro camp began on 30 July.
What kind of centre-forward is Rasmus Hojlund?
A forward who lives off running and attacking depth rather than off back-to-goal play. In 2025-26, his first season in Naples, he scored 16 goals in 44 matches, 12 of them in Serie A, and was the club's leading league scorer.
Would a link-up forward change the team?
Yes, and not only in attack. A striker who drops to receive opens up central space but takes himself out of the box: you then need wingers and midfielders willing to attack that space, otherwise the team builds well and arrives at the byline with nobody inside.
