Kevin De Bruyne completes move to Napoli

Kevin De Bruyne has completed his free transfer to Napoli, signing a two-year deal with the club with an option for a third year.

The move brings to an end months of speculation around the Belgian's future which ramped up significantly once Manchester City confirmed they wouldn't be offering De Bruyne a new deal.

The 33-year-old, who turns 34 at the end of the month, was expected to move to MLS at first, with Saudi clubs, Aston Villa and even Liverpool all linked.

De Bruyne said whatever decision he made wouldn't be financially driven and that he still wanted the opportunity to play at the top level.

Napoli will give him that opportunity, with Antonio Conte confirmed to be staying at the club as the champions bid to defend their title and return to the UEFA Champions League.

A dismal defence of their 2023 title saw them finish 10th, failing to qualify for any European competition as the club saw Rudi Garcia, Walter Mazzarri and Francesco Calzona struggle to back up the previous season's success.

But the arrival of Conte changed all that, with the Italian winning a sixth league title with a fourth club.

Napoli will be keen to ensure they put up a sterner defence of their title than last time, and De Bruyne marks the first move of what will likely be a busy transfer window for the champions with the likes of Jonathan David, Antonio Musa, Yunus Musah and Sam Beukema all linked and Victor Osimhen expected to complete a permanent departure.

Following the signing of De Bruyne and the news that Conte would remain in charge, Napoli are new favourites to make it back-to-back Scudetto wins, priced at 2/1, slightly shorter than Inter who are 5/2 second favourites after Simone Inzaghi's departure.

Liam Williams

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