{"id":178767,"date":"2025-06-12T16:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T16:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/178767\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T16:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T16:07:11","slug":"napoli-announce-signing-of-man-city-legend-kevin-de-bruyne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/178767\/","title":{"rendered":"Napoli announce signing of Man City legend Kevin De Bruyne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Manchester City ace Kevin De Bruyne has completed his move to Serie A champions Napoli.This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/affiliates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_GettyImages-2216329708.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City says goodbye\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Kevin De Bruyne has signed for Napoli(Image: Jacques Feeney\/Offside via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Napoli have confirmed the signing of Kevin De Bruyne after the Belgian midfielder left <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/manchester-city-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Manchester City<\/a> at the end of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The 33-year-old has signed with the Serie A champions after his Etihad exit. Napoli confirmed the move on their social media channels with a computer-generated image of De Bruyne sitting on a throne, wearing a crown, with the caption &#8216;King Kev&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">De Bruyne was a free agent after his decade-long stay at City came to an end. Although he felt he still had a role to play at the club, City decided the time was right to move on, with De Bruyne granted a fitting farewell on his final appearance for the Etihad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He rejected interest from the MLS to continue his career in Europe and joined Antonio Conte&#8217;s side ahead of their return to the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/uefa-champions-league\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Champions League<\/a>, which was secured with last month&#8217;s Serie A triumph.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the Club World Cup free on DAZN<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1749744431_540_0_Untitledjpeg.jpg\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 of the world&#8217;s best club teams including Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich play across 63 games from June 14-July 13.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Fans can watch every match live and for free by signing up to DAZN.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Speaking in April after confirming his departure from the club, De Bruyne admitted to being shocked at the decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cA little bit, yeah, a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cI have not had any offer the whole year, they just took a decision. Obviously, I was a bit surprised but I just have to accept it. Honestly, I still think I can perform at this level like I\u2019m showing but I understand clubs have to make decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The midfielder also suggested the decision might have been accelerated as a result of City&#8217;s struggles last season.. \u201cMaybe if the team didn\u2019t struggle and I came back like I did this year [after injury] and bedded in like normal then maybe they would take another decision,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cI still have a lot to give. Obviously I know I\u2019m not 25 any more but I still feel like I can do my job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">That desire to prove he can still perform at the highest level was behind his decision to remain in Europe and join a club in the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8212;<strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Here at the Manchester Evening News, we\u2019re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Make sure you don\u2019t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/KFbyQiILzrM6NIEa76Moy7\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"hereLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/strong> to subscribe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=0a51ba11-acfb-4945-b41a-16893319d494&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"hereLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a><\/strong> to be sent all the day\u2019s biggest stories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">And finally, if you\u2019d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/6XtmZeu522aayn2YtC4IRx\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"SpotifyLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a><\/strong> and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com?id=76202X1528180&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fgb%2Fpodcast%2Ftalking-city-manchester-city-podcast%2Fid1264578379&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manchestereveningnews.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fnapoli-announce-signing-man-city-31845481\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Apple PodcastsLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a><\/strong>, and you can also watch along on <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPcS5SnmGPOpETZ3IlvH5Sw\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"YouTubeLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Manchester City ace Kevin De Bruyne has completed his move to Serie A champions Napoli.This article contains&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,1858,2465,1036,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-178767","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-kevin-de-bruyne","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-manchester-city-fc","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114671259408275014","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}