It’s hard not to feel for Lecce, the club from the heel of Italy, as they prepare for another season in Serie A, the division they have been relegated from twice in the past decade.
They were champions of Serie B in May, but have spent the least of any promoted club in fortifying the squad. And the fixture list has been merciless.
On Saturday, Internazionale will make the long trip south for match day one. Up against Lecce, fitness permitting, will be Romelu Lukaku, the centre-forward for whom more has been paid in total career transfer fees than any footballer in history.
Three seasons ago, following his €80 million move from Manchester United, he made his Serie A debut against Lecce. He scored the third goal in a 4-0 win. Over the next two seasons, Lukaku added a further 63 Inter goals in 94 appearances.
Those are the numbers Inter are looking for from Lukaku’s return, on loan from Chelsea, after his dispiriting, marginalised nine months in London. While he was away, Inter failed to defend their league title, conceding it to neighbours AC Milan after a compelling joust for the scudetto was settled on the last day.
Lukaku, who had joined Chelsea for over €100m, can barely conceal his delight at being back in Italy. “It’s like coming home,” he said at the prospect of reuniting with colleagues who formed the backbone of the 2020/21 Italian champions and reviving a celebrated striking partnership with Lautaro Martinez, the so-called ‘LuLa’ alliance.
Lukaku surveys a division in which several of his former combatants have moved on. There will be no muscular duels with Giorgio Chiellini, the veteran whose departure from Juventus for an end-of-career postscript in Los Angeles marks the end of an epoch.
Juve have sold Matthijs de Ligt, the Dutch defender, to Bayern Munich and although Gleison Bremer, the Brazilian signed from Torino, is an accomplished centre-back, he cannot expect much patience from Juve supporters anxious for standards to be raised quickly. Juventus, Serie A winners in every season between 2012 and 2020, are coming off successive fourth-placed finishes.
Like Inter with Lukaku, Juve have sought out a leader from the past to help them again walk the walk of champions. Paul Pogba, who left Italy for Manchester United for a similar fee to that paid by Chelsea for Lukaku, has come back for free, though his vast salary will feel that bit heavier during the seven or eight matches he is to miss before his second debut for the club.
Lukaku's career in pictures
Pogba picked up a knee injury in practice and by the time he is fit for action, he will note that Juventus have been busy around him. Besides Chiellini and De Ligt, Paulo Dybala has departed. Into Juve’s creative hub come Angel di Maria, and, subject to final details being agreed, Filip Kostic. Memphis Depay, who Barcelona are pushing to sell, may join them.
Dybala’s choice of Roma as his destination boosts optimism in the capital that a sustained Serie A challenge is possible. In Jose Mourinho’s first year as their head coach, Roma broke a long trophy drought by winning the inaugural Europa Conference League.
They fell short of the target set to Mourinho by finishing only sixth in Italy’s top division. Dybala, Nemanja Matic and Gini Wijnaldum, the summer additions, now add pedigree to the squad, while Tammy Abraham will be keen to remind Lukaku that there is more than one former Chelsea striker who finds Italian football very much to his liking.
Most centre-forwards outside Napoli will welcome the fact that Kalidou Koulibaly is no longer going to be marking them at the San Paulo. In Naples there is concern that Koulibaly’s sale to Chelsea was part of a procession. Fellow legends of the club, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens have also said farewell.
“It will be a strange season,” admits Luciano Spalletti, the Napoli head coach, “and I sense some scepticism about us.”
Napoli have finished in the top three seven times in the past 10 seasons. The sceptics wonder if they can be relied on to maintain that standard.
AC Milan, who kick off the season at home to Udinese on Saturday, have been shorn of key contributors to their title.
Franck Kessie leaves a hole in midfield, and although Zlatan Ibrahimovic has extended his Peter Pan career by signing a new contract, the 40-year-old Swede is recuperating from an injury that will keep him out until the new year.
But the capture of the young forward, Charles de Ketelaere, from Bruges, excites milanisti. De Ketelaere will be keen to remind compatriot Lukaku there is now more than one Belgian star in the city of Milan.
The biggest summer transfers
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
THE SPECS
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE
Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors
Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode
Power: 121hp
Torque: 142Nm
Price: Dh95,900
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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South Korea
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Honeymoonish
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Need to know
When: October 17 until November 10
Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration
Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center
What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.
For more information: www.koreafestivaluae.com
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Pathaan
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THE%20SPECS
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The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
