De Bruyne leaves City for Napoli: “I’m a ‘citizen’ player for life”

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De Bruyne leaves City for Napoli: "I'm a 'citizen' player for life"
Kevin De Bruyne is excited about his arrival at Napoli, after finishing his time in the Premier League. The Belgian midfielder, after not receiving a contract extension from Manchester City, decided to undertake a new challenge in Serie A. De Bruyne, considered one of the best midfielders in Premier League history, ended his successful spell at City at the end of last season and joined Napoli as a free agent.

I’ve been in the Premier League for so long and in the end I made the decision to leave England. I’ve done what I’ve done and in the end I’m a Manchester City player for life. With the way it ended for me, I thought it was 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, it was exciting for me.

Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne leaves City for Napoli: "I'm a 'citizen' player for life"
The 34-year-old player, who had a birthday last month, acknowledges that he has a lot to learn in Italy. However, with the company of his Belgian national team and polyglot teammate Romelu Lukaku, the learning curve seems less steep as he adapts to the team led by Antonio Conte.

Napoli is already champion, but is still improving its squad… I hope I can help the team grow and I will also learn from them, a new way of playing, a new competition.

Kevin De Bruyne
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De Bruyne also highlighted the importance of Lukaku’s presence in his adaptation.

Romelu was happy [with the transfer], I spoke with him in the national team’s concentration, he wanted me to join. I’ve known Romelu since we were 13 years old, so we are very close. When we played at Chelsea, we lived together for two or three months. It makes it a little easier for me to know that he is there because he is someone who can translate for me and helps because he knows the coach, he knows the team.

Kevin De Bruyne
Napoli will begin their 2025-26 Serie A campaign on August 13th with an away match against Sassuolo.
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