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

By admin — In News — November 14, 2026

   ​Michele De Bruyne Discusses Manchester City Legend’s “Very Restricted Life in Napoli” Amid January Exit TalkDe 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.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.”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.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 hi  

Content Source: Yahoo News

Image Credit: Getty Images

All rights to the news content and images belong to their respective copyright owners.