It was after the FA Cup final that Kevin De Bruyne revealed that he would probably not join Manchester City for the Club World Cup, in case an injury jeopardised his next move.
By that point, he had spent around a month weighing up whether to move to Chicago or Naples as negotiations ebbed and flowed.
Other clubs had shown an interest in the days and weeks after it emerged that De Bruyne would be leaving City — Juventus made a casual enquiry, Inter Miami could not free up space in their squad and there was even a short conversation with Liverpool — but the most concrete proposals involved very different challenges.
De Bruyne held a farewell party a few days after the cup final and afterwards his team-mates were under the impression that his next club would be Napoli. A few days later, the Italian side’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, revealed the supposed details of a video call he had had with De Bruyne, claiming that the 33-year-old had already found a house in the area.
Sources close to the midfielder, who, like all mentioned in this article, wish to remain anonymous to protect relationships, insist that that was not the case and, if anything, De Laurentiis’ interventions probably did more harm than good, given his grand statements came before a final decision had been made.
De Bruyne at Liverpool in March 2024 — could Anfield have become his new home ground? (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
There were times when De Bruyne leaned more towards Chicago Fire but, in the end, other figures at Napoli, including striker Romelu Lukaku, did enough to ensure the Serie A champions would win the race.
The lure of moving to such a historic club, providing an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Diego Maradona, would be a key factor for many players but for the ultra practical De Bruyne, more tangible considerations made the difference.
The lure of Champions League football and playing under head coach Antonio Conte were among the deciding factors, with sources familiar with the discussions noting that the Belgian was partly motivated by proving City wrong for letting him go.
On April 4, De Bruyne announced to the world that he would be leaving City via a statement on his Instagram account. He had been stewing on the news for a few days, feeling he was deserving of a new deal as he could play a significant role at City next season and beyond, but the lack of communication from the club meant the writing was on the wall.
Even so, confirmation that no new deal would be forthcoming hit him hard and with his wife and three children away on holiday for around a fortnight, he has talked about the “relief” of sharing the news with the world, having not known how to handle the emotions.
That process seemed to take several weeks. By the time he inspired City to a 5-2 victory against Crystal Palace in the Premier League eight days after the announcement, he had still not seen his family and he made his disappointment towards City’s decision clear when speaking to the media. He still struggled to find the right words a week later after he received a standing ovation at Goodison Park, while after the FA Cup semi-final the following week, he looked dejected at the final whistle.
The relationship between De Bruyne and the club’s decision-makers had been frosty at best at the time but by the time he entered his final days at City, the club had pulled out all the stops to ensure he left feeling truly appreciated.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak hailed him as the club’s best-ever player as he unveiled a mosaic at the renamed Kevin De Bruyne Crescent, a private road that runs through the training ground.
There had been a temporary mural painted in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and, during a smartly produced on-pitch presentation following his final appearance at the Etihad, a closely guarded secret was revealed: he will be getting a statue outside the ground.
Initially, De Bruyne and his family had been hoping to stay in the north west of England, an area they had come to call home. Their three children were all born in Manchester and a move to another Premier League club would have been considered.
There was a short conversation between De Bruyne’s camp and Liverpool, although there are conflicting accounts of who approached who.
In the end, Liverpool were ready to sign Florian Wirtz and had a meeting scheduled with Rayan Cherki (who eventually moved to City), which suggests that De Bruyne would not necessarily have been a regular starter. A squad role would not have appealed to the Belgian, while Liverpool obviously had other targets in mind. Then there is the significant question of whether De Bruyne would have actually made the move to Anfield if push came to shove.
Either way, the move never got off the ground and with offers coming in from around the world, the idea of moving abroad became more appealing.
De Bruyne celebrates scoring against Real Madrid in April 2024 (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Most of those offers, though, were not considered serious. Juventus, for example, made contact to say that a deal might be possible if certain players left and certain money could be brought in, but there was nothing more concrete than that.
Galatasaray also registered their interest but the Turkish club did not take it any further.
A move to Saudi Arabia, despite reports 12 months ago, was never really considered an option. Much was made of De Bruyne’s relationship with Michael Emenalo, who had been appointed as the sporting director for the Saudi Pro League, because he had helped bring the midfielder to Chelsea in 2012.
But no approach from any Saudi team ran any deeper than the links to Emenalo; De Bruyne wanted to consider the full package when it came to his next move, including accommodation and education for his children, but those factors never featured in discussions regarding potential moves to Al Ahli and Al Nassr.
Given De Bruyne felt that he could still perform at a higher level, the lack of a well-rounded proposal meant a move to the Middle East never appealed.
Despite that desire to keep playing in Europe’s top leagues, there was a temptation to move to Major League Soccer. Talks were held with Inter Miami even before it was made official that City would not be making a new offer.
Unlike the other clubs that showed rudimentary interest, figures were discussed with Miami. Had he made the move, he would have been among the best-paid players in MLS history, behind Lionel Messi and David Beckham.
Messi would have been one of De Bruyne’s team-mates at Inter Miami, of course, and Beckham is a co-owner, but the franchise had already filled all their ‘designated player’ (DP) slots — each MLS team can sign up to three players who can be paid above the salary cap.
De Bruyne and Messi competing at the 2014 World Cup — they might have been team-mates in 2025 (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
There was a possibility that one of Inter’s DPs, Sergio Busquets, could have returned to Spain to begin coaching, which would have freed up space for De Bruyne, but that did not happen.
Chicago Fire hoped to take advantage of the situation and were all in on bringing in the Belgian. De Bruyne, as a keen fan of many sports, liked the idea of moving to a city with such a big sporting history, including the Bulls, White Sox, Bears and Cubs.
This year, Chicago Fire opened a new $100million (£74m) training facility and are building a $650m stadium set to open in 2028. Although the exact make-up of the financial packages differed due to the different market considerations involved, sources say that both Chicago and Napoli’s offers were worth roughly $20m (£14.7m) gross over two years.
Had he chosen Chicago, De Bruyne could have expected an extra $5m (£3.7m) in commercial deals on top of his salary in the first year of his deal, and roughly half of that in the second. Chicago would have been expected to make a huge fuss of the deal, as would the MLS itself. Sources close to negotiations insist that the impact would have been global.
As well as being offered support with accommodation and education, De Bruyne was also impressed by the sporting project, given Gregg Berhalter, the former coach of the United States national team, had elected to go there. Berhalter had offers from many MLS franchises but chose the Fire because of the powers offered to him — like another former USMNT coach, Bruce Arena, he had greater responsibilities above simply managing the team.
That appealed to De Bruyne as he felt it showed that Chicago had a very solid project. The only downside was considered to be the biting cold of the Illinois winter, but given the MLS season runs through the summer, that would not necessarily have been a problem, as the family could return to Europe during the off-season.
De Bruyne with his wife, Michele, and children for his farewell presentation in May (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
All things considered, the overall package was considered extremely appealing and there were certain points when he was leaning more towards moving to the USA than to Italy.
One of those came at the end of May, when it emerged that Conte might leave his post as manager after guiding Napoli to the league title. Had the Italian left, De Bruyne may have made a different final decision, such is his interest in playing for the head coach.
While he was weighing up his options, Napoli were involved in a close race with Inter, only finishing top of Serie A by one point.
Inter had played 18 more matches than Napoli across all competitions and De Bruyne was conscious that next season could be much harder for Napoli, given the demands of playing in the Champions League and Supercoppa Italiana.
Ultimately, playing in Europe’s premier club competition was one of the biggest positive factors in his decision, and De Bruyne, those close to him say, believes he can help the team get stronger as they grapple with the extra matches.
Working with Antonio Conte in 2025-26 is an appealing factor for De Bruyne (Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
His much-publicised conversation with De Laurentiis at the end of May was actually the first time he had spoken to the president. It was sporting director Giovanni Manna who conducted the initial talks and impressed De Bruyne.
On top of that, the Belgian was given extra encouragement by international team-mates Lukaku, who moved to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona last summer, and Dries Mertens, who left in 2022 after nearly a decade at the club. The feverish welcome that De Bruyne received when he arrived in Naples would have no doubt reinforced any advice he had been given about the kind of support he can expect to receive.
De Bruyne and his wife, Michele, were married in Sorrento, just across the bay from Naples, in 2018, meaning the family were already open to the idea of moving to the area. In the end, the Italian club’s proposal was the strongest, with the opportunity to stay in Europe a big factor. After the decision was conveyed to Chicago, De Bruyne also called Berhalter personally.
City, given their involvement in the Club World Cup, have had to move on quickly, while De Bruyne will begin preparations for the new season with Napoli after his summer holidays. What odds the two cross paths in next season’s Champions League?
Additional reporting: Paul Tenorio
(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)