Napoli team manager Oriali provides update on De Bruyne & Lukaku injuries ahead of Lecce clash

Napoli team manager Gabriele Oriali has spoken to the press before the Partenopei’s trip to Lecce in Serie A on Tuesday evening. Oriali discussed several topics, including the 6-2 defeat to PSV last week, as well as the injuries of both Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

Speaking to DAZN Italia, Oriali said “There are always three points up for grabs in every game. We need to keep the Eindhoven defeat in our minds always as a warning of what can happen when we don’t play with that focus and unity,”

Napoli were expected to meet a resistant PSV in Eindhoven last week but nobody forecasted such a heavy defeat for Antonio Conte’s side. However, the Partenopei bounced back at the weekend with a 3-1 win over Inter in a game that may carry additional significance as we get further through the campaign.

“We were coming off a heavy defeat that was unexpected, so everyone’s mood was bad going into the Inter game, not just Conte.”

Kevin De Bruyne was taken off with an injury in the win over Inter and early forecasts predict that the Belgian will not return until a couple of months into 2026.

On the former Manchester City man’s condition, Oriali said “We don’t know yet how long he will be out for, as the surgery is meant to be tomorrow, but we’ll have a better idea then. It is going to be 3-4 months unfortunately, as he had settled in very well and was giving a big hand to the team.”

Finally, the Napoli man discussed Romelu Lukaku’s recovery. The forward suffered an injury in pre-season that saw him miss the start to the campaign, and led to the Partenopei signing Rasmus Hojlund from Manchester United.

“However, Lukaku is on his way back this week and we hope to get him ready soon. I won’t stand here listing all the injuries we’ve had, but we got through it anyway, and those who replaced them did very well.”