Michele De Bruyne Discusses Manchester City Legend's "Very Restricted Life in Napoli" Amid January Exit Talk

De Bruyne, 35, left Manchester City on a free transfer in the summer of 2025 after the club decided against offering him a new contract, ending a decade at the Etihad Stadium that brought 108 goals in 422 appearances and 16 major trophies.

The Belgium international joined Napoli under Antonio Conte, but a hamstring injury against Inter Milan in October 2025 kept him out until March 2026, and his relationship with the Italian was reported to be strained throughout the campaign.

Advertisement

De Bruyne later admitted he was happy to see Conte leave Napoli in the summer, with Massimiliano Allegri since taking charge in Naples, and the midfielder’s contract runs until June 2027 with the club holding an option for a further 12 months.

Speaking to Belgian magazine NINA in September, Michele reflected on the family’s future following De Bruyne’s struggles to adapt to Italian football.

“Of course, we think about the future together. And increasingly often, we say to each other: ‘We are going to live here in Limburg. The sooner we get here, the better’,” Michele said, as quoted by Mail Sport.

“Kevin leads a very restricted life in Napoli. It’s not much fun for him. Besides, we can’t do anything together as a family in the city.”

Advertisement

Michele then compared life in Naples with the family’s time in England, where the couple spent a decade in Manchester after De Bruyne joined City from VfL Wolfsburg in 2015, with their children growing up in the north west during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

“That’s the other side of the coin, isn’t it? In Manchester, it was different,” she added. “Where we lived, people had seen us so often that it wasn’t special anymore. We could walk out the door there without a single photo being taken.

“In Naples, that is impossible. At a certain point, football is no longer the priority. You have achieved everything, done everything. Why would you then turn your children’s lives upside down?”

As reported by journalist Mounir Boualin, PSV Eindhoven are exploring options to prise De Bruyne away from Napoli during the winter window, with contact having been made between the midfielder and the Dutch club.

Advertisement

Boualin adds that, according to various sources, those talks have been going well so far, although it remains to be seen how the situation develops before the January window opens in the new year.

Dutch outlet Eindhovens Dagblad has also reported PSV’s interest in De Bruyne, while cautioning that any final agreement between the parties remains some distance away at this stage of the process.

Reports from Italy has cited friction between De Bruyne and several of his Napoli team-mates, which could speed up a winter departure as the club continue to struggle for consistency in Serie A and in Europe this season.

De Bruyne made 21 appearances and scored five goals across all competitions in his debut campaign in Italy, with the injury lay-off against Inter costing him more than four months of the 2025-26 season.

Advertisement

Manchester City have rebuilt their midfield since his departure, with Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez and Ayyoub Bouaddi among the summer arrivals under Enzo Maresca, who replaced Pep Guardiola as manager in June.

Napoli visit the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League on Tuesday 24 November, with City having beaten Conte’s side 2-0 in Manchester in the league phase of last season’s competition through goals from Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku, in a game where De Bruyne was withdrawn by Conte after just 26 minutes following Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s early red card.

City head into that meeting on the back of three straight Premier League defeats, to Aston Villa, Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest, with Maresca having vowed to resolve the problems in the international break after falling six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.