Kevin De Bruyne has opened up on his summer exit from Manchester City as he’s set to begin a new adventure in the Seria A with Napoli.
De Bruyne joins Serie A champions Napoli after not being offered a contract extension by Manchester City. The Belgium international ended a glittering decade-long spell at City and has revealed he’s raring to go at his new home.
“I have been in the Premier League for so long and in the end I made the decision to go out of England,” De Bruyne told reporters on Saturday.
“I have done what I have done and in the end I am a Man City player for life. It was also with the way that it ended for me, I thought, it is time to find a new challenge.
“When I had the whole project in front of me and then the fact that I could play in Italy and still play at a high level was exciting for me.”
Kevin De Bruyne shakes hands with SSC Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis during his official presentation. (Photo by SSC NAPOLI/SSC NAPOLI via Getty Images)
De Bruyne, who turned 34 last month, said he had much to learn in Italy, but with Belgium teammate and polyglot Romelu Lukaku by his side, the learning curve looks far less steep as he adjusts to Antonio Conte’s side.
“Napoli already are champions but they are still improving their squad… I am hoping that I can help the team grow and I will also learn from them, a new way of playing, a new competition,” De Bruyne said.
“Romelu was happy [about the move], I spoke with him in the national team [camp], he wanted me to join. I know Romelu since we were 13-years-old, so we are really tight together. When we played in Chelsea we lived together for two or three months.
“It makes it a little bit easier that I know him because he is somebody who can translate for me and it helps because he knows the coach, he knows the team.”
De Bruyne will get the first taste of Seria A football when Napoli travel to Sassuolo for their 2025-26 Serie A league opener on Aug. 13.
