Kvaratskhelia and Serie A stars send messages to Lukaku after Napoli return: ‘The King’

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Thibaut Courtois and Rasmus Hojlund are among the stars to have sent a message of congratulations to Napoli star Romelu Lukaku after his goalscoring return in Serie A over the weekend: ‘The King is back’. 

Messages for Lukaku after goalscoring Napoli return

It has been a difficult season for ‘Big Rom’, who suffered a serious injury to his hamstring during Napoli’s final pre-season friendly of the summer, one week before the start of the 2025-26 Serie A season. 

Belgium’s all-time leading goalscorer has only recently returned to competitive first-team action in the early stages of 2026 and scored his first goal of the season this weekend: A 97th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory over Hellas Verona. This was his first goal since the final day of the 2024-25 season, 283 days prior to the Verona victory. 

Lukaku celebrated on social media with a picture of his celebration and a picture of his late father, who died in September, along with the caption: ‘For you Papa’. 

Several stars from Serie A and beyond have left comments to congratulate or encourage Lukaku following his return to action, including former Napoli teammate and current PSG star Kvaratskhelia, who wrote: “The King is back.” 

Most of Lukaku’s Napoli teammates have left comments as well, including Hojlund, Billy Gilmour, Alex Meret, Sam Beukema, Pasquale Mazzocchi and Miguel Gutierrez. 

Belgium teammate Courtois is also among the stars to have sent a message to Lukaku.