Victor Osimhen has been sidelined by Napoli after the team he fired to Serie A glory just a over year ago left him both off their squad list for the 2024/25 campaign and potentially in season-long limbo.
Belgium striker Lukaku completed a permanent move to Napoli from Chelsea on Thursday, ending a long period of limbo with the Blues.
The futures of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and England international Ivan Toney are set to dominate the final day of the European transfer window on Friday as Chelsea continue their frenzied pursuit of new signings.
Napoli manager Antonio Conte apologised to the club's fans after his side were humbled 3-0 at Hellas Verona in Serie A on Sunday and said he took responsibility for the loss.
Napoli insisted on Monday Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is not for sale as the star Georgian winger's agent pushes for a move away from the Serie A club, reportedly to Paris Saint-Germain.
Former Chelsea and Tottenham coach Antonio Conte was hired by Napoli on Wednesday as the deposed Serie A champions try to bounce back from their disastrous league title defence.
Empoli, who are battling relegation, opened the scoring after four minutes when striker Alberto Cerri headed in a close-range cross for what proved to be the winner.
"We're not mathematically out of it but the chances of us getting there are very slim," said Calzona after his first league defeat as Napoli boss
Italian club Napoli said they were "stunned" after Italy's football federation (FIGC) on Tuesday dropped a probe into alleged racist comments made by Inter Milan's Francesco Acerbi to Napoli's Juan Jesus due to lack of evidence.
Napoli stamped their authority on the Serie A title race on Friday by thrashing Juventus 5-1 and moving 10 points clear of the chasing pack.
Napoli moved seven points clear at the top of Serie A after Sunday's 2-0 win at 10-man Sampdoria, who paid tribute to deceased greats Gianluca Vialli and Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Napoli's 11-match winning streak and unbeaten start to the Serie A season ended on Wednesday when Edin Dzeko's second-half goal secured Inter Milan a 1-0 victory.
A brilliant header by Napoli striker Giovanni Simeone helped his side to seal a 2-1 win at AC Milan and return to the top of the Serie A table on Sunday.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said the Reds must "reinvent" themselves after a poor start to the season was compounded by a 4-1 defeat to Napoli in their Champions League opener on Wednesday.
New Chelsea signing Kalidou Koulibaly may not yet have had a chance to introduce the Premier League audience to his football skills but he has already gained fans' respect after he called former captain John Terry to ask for his shirt number.
Kalidou Koulibaly has said goodbye to Napoli as he nears a move to Chelsea, saying: “you have been everything for me”.
Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly scored an injury-time own goal to hand Juventus a 4-3 Serie A victory in Turin on Saturday after the visitors had fought back from three goals down.
Napoli, runners-up in three of the last four seasons, hit back from conceding a contentious early penalty to win 4-3 at new-look Fiorentina in a hugely entertaining start to their Serie A campaign on Saturday.
But the most emotional scenes came during Fiorentina's 3-1 defeat at Atalanta, who kept their hopes of Champions League football alive thanks to goals from Josip Ilicic, Alejandro Gomez and Robin Gosens.