Kevin De Bruyne: Man City legend ‘held talks’ with Liverpool before completing Napoli transfer

Kevin De Bruyne reportedly held talks with Liverpool before completing his transfer to Napoli from Manchester City this summer.

The legendary playmaker will depart the Citizens upon the expiration of his contract at the end of this month after a glittering 10-year career at the Etihad Stadium where he won 19 trophies, including six Premier League titles and one Champions League.

De Bruyne, who scored 108 goals and provided 177 assists in 422 appearances for Man City, wanted to extend his stay on the blue side of Manchester, but he was not offered a new contract by the club after struggling with fitness issues in recent years.

The Belgian’s switch to Serie A champions Napoli was confirmed just under a fortnight ago, with the soon-to-be 34-year-old penning a two-year deal with the option of an additional 12 months.

Before the Belgian deciding to join Antonio Conte’s side, speculation over his future was rife amidst suggestions that he could be tempted by a move to either the Saudi Pro League or MLS.

Boyhood Liverpool fan De Bruyne had ‘short conversation’ with the Reds

According to The Athletic, De Bruyne spent around a month weighing up whether to move to MLS outfit Chicago Fire or Napoli as negotiations with both clubs ‘ebbed and flowed’.

The report adds that Napoli’s Italian rivals Juventus made a ‘casual enquiry’ for De Bruyne, and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami were unable to free up space in their squad for the playmaker, while he even had a ‘short conversation’ with Premier League champions Liverpool.

Back in 2019, De Bruyne admitted that he grew up as a Liverpool supporter during his time in the academy of Belgian outfit Genk before joining Chelsea in 2012.

In an interview for the Match of the Day magazine, De Bruyne said: “I was a Liverpool fan. My family that live in England were all Liverpool supporters so I was, too.

“I loved Michael Owen because I was really small like him and quick, too. I compared myself to him at the time. I liked [Zinedine] Zidane and Ronaldinho too - those really skilful players.”

De Bruyne joins Napoli as Liverpool complete record Wirtz deal

Despite that, De Bruyne’s brief talks with Liverpool did not materialise into anything serious and the most concrete proposals on the table, including one from Napoli, are said to have involved ‘very different challenges’.

Napoli’s interest in De Bruyne emerged at a time when Liverpool were pushing to win the race for fellow attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, who was viewed by some as a potential long-term successor to De Bruyne at Man City.

Pep Guardiola’s side eventually turned their attention to signing Rayan Cherki, before Liverpool fended off competition from Bayern Munich to complete the signing of Wirtz for an initial £100m, which is set to rise to a British-record £116m with add-ons.

It is claimed that De Bruyne had no interest in settling for just a squad role at a new club, with Liverpool not considered to be an appealing option, and after expressing his desire to continue playing at the highest possible level in Europe, De Bruyne was persuaded to make the move to Napoli.

De Bruyne is looking forward to playing alongside Belgian compatriot Romelu Lukaku and representing the reigning Italian top-flight champions in next season’s Champions League.

Written by
Oliver Thomas