Former Inter striker Alessandro Altobelli believes that current Nerazzurri forwards Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez have combined to form one of the strongest partnerships in Europe.

Lukaku and Martinez have scored 36 Serie A goals between them, with the former second in Serie A’s scoring charts with 21 goals, and Altobelli admitted he had been impressed by their work in tandem.

In an interview published in today’s newspaper edition of Il Mattino, the ex-Juventus striker assessed Inter’s Serie A clash against Napoli tomorrow evening and felt the impact of their attackers could make the difference.

“Inter have two top quality strikers who always play and have an entire team at their service. Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez are perhaps one of the best strike partnerships in Europe,” Altobelli claimed.

“They came together and work well. Lukaku is a lead striker who knows how to help the team, he defends and attacks and when he finds space he is unstoppable. He is very fast and I think maybe the only one who can stop him is [Napoli defender] Kalidou Koulibaly. I think he’s in the top three in Europe.

“Lautaro, on the other hand, is a different type of striker. He sees the goal, has good dribbling ability and knows how to create chances for his teammates, in particular Lukaku.”

Altobelli then assessed Napoli and felt that they could have been in with a chance of winning silverware if they had secured the services of former Inter captain Mauro Icardi. The Argentine striker was strongly linked with the Partenopei last summer before turning his loan at PSG into a permanent deal.

“I remain convinced that if Napoli had taken Mauro Icardi, the one we know can hit 25 goals a season, they would have secured Champions League qualification and would have had an excellent chance of challenging for the Scudetto,” he concluded.

Altobelli scored 128 goals in 317 appearances for Inter between 1977 and 1988, winning the Serie A title in 1980.