Kevin De Bruyne will lead Napoli’s Serie A title defense on Saturday when he makes his full debut at promoted Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku.

De Bruyne was, alongside ageing icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his link-up with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the Champions League.

The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the last two campaigns with Manchester City, where he won six Premier League titles and in 2023 the Champions League.

But he was excellent in Napoli’s recent friendly against Girona, scoring twice and setting up the other in a 3-2 win, and, with Antonio Conte staying put, southern Italy’s biggest club look a strong bet to retain the Scudetto.

“Competitively it’s a very nice place to be. They were champions last year, they showed that they have a lot of quality. Obviously it’s very different to what I had in England but that’s something that is very exciting,” De Bruyne said last month.

“I feel like I have some motivation left and quality, I think I can still do something at this level… I think the main reason is that I wanted to play at the highest level.”

However Lukaku’s thigh tear, suffered in a friendly win over Olympiakos, has thrown a spanner in the works as the bustling centre forward is set to be out for months, with some Italian media saying that he might not be back in action before 2026.

Napoli are now scrambling to reinforce an attack which had already received reinforcements in the shape of towering Italy striker Lorenzo Lucca and Netherlands international Noa Lang, with Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori’s exits further distancing the club from the historic 2023 title-winning team.