AP:
KEVIN DE Bruyne is going to rely on Romelu Lukaku for more than just goals at his new club Napoli. He also wants translation help from his long-time Belgium teammate.
De Bruyne called Lukaku and former Napoli and Belgium standout Dries Mertens to feel out what the southern club was like before signing for the Italian champion.
“I was speaking with (Lukaku) in the national team and he wanted me to join,” De Bruyne said at his presentation at Napoli’s training camp in the Dolomites yesterday.
“I know Romelu since we are 13 years old. So we are really tied together. When we played in Chelsea we lived together for like two-three months.
“So it makes it a little bit easier that I know him because he’s somebody who can translate a little bit for me and who can help me around because he knows the coach, he knows the team,” De Bruyne added.
Lukaku led Napoli with 14 goals last season and also won Serie A under current Napoli coach Antonio Conte at Inter Milan in 2021.
De Bruyne was unexpectedly given a training kit featuring Diego Maradona’s number 10 on it for his first practice session at Napoli.
“I was a bit surprised in the beginning because obviously I knew that the number was retired but in another way it’s an honour,” De Bruyne said. “It’s an honour from the team and from the club to give me this responsibility.”
During the presentation though, De Bruyne was given a shirt bearing number 11.
“Maradona is Maradona. He’s synonymous with Napoli,” De Bruyne said. “I’m my own player. I am going to try and do the job the best I can do and hopefully I can bring pleasure to the team and to the city and to the fans.”
Having turned 34 last month, De Bruyne’s contract was allowed to run out at Manchester City, where he won a boatload of trophies.
“I had lots of offers in Europe and America and Saudi (Arabia),” De Bruyne said.
He chose Napoli because it was the best fit in terms of competitiveness.
“I still feel I am able to get a good level out of myself and I’m here to prove that I can do that,” De Bruyne said.
Known as one of football’s most complete midfielders, De Bruyne was named the best player in the Premier League for the 2019-2020 and 2021-22 seasons.
In 10 seasons at City, he helped the English club to six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League trophy.
“I’m a Man City player for life,” De Bruyne said.
“With the way that it ended for me it’s time to find a new challenge, and I think when I had the whole project in front of me, and then the fact that I could play in Italy and still play at a high level, was exciting for me.”
With De Bruyne teaming up with freshly crowned Serie A player of the year Scott McTominay and passing wizard Stanislav Lobotka, Napoli could have one of the strongest midfields in the world.
“We still have Frank (Andre-Frank Anguissa) and then Billy (Gilmour) – they’re really good players and it’s not about what we do with three players. It’s about what we do all together,” De Bruyne said. “And we’re going to play a lot of games so it’s going to be interchangeable anyway.”
