Kevin De Bruyne has made an overwhelming start of life in Napoli, and the fans of the Series A Giants have already turned on the former Manchester City star for a brutal reason
Napoli supporters have fierce criticism of Kevin De Bruyne unleashed for similar reasons that Pep Guardiola once led to publicly admonish one of his players in Manchester City. The 33-year-old wrote a two-year contract with the Serie A Club this summer after the end of his deal with the citizens and closed his decade-long Stint in Manchester.
Although no longer the impressive presence of earlier campaigns, De Bruyne's acquisition represented a huge signature for the Italian champions, who had not secured their second title in three seasons for long.
Although the excitement around his arrival was considerable, the Belgian has difficulty having an immediate impact during the preseason, with Napoli so far only one victory of their four games.
Three of their opponents are currently competing in the lower levels of Italy, but De Bruyne has just not found it, reports the Manchester Evening News. With three games before the campaign starts, some avid supporters of the club have already planned the Premier League icon on social media.
Fans have focused on the physical condition of De Bruyne, with countless supporters who come to social media to suggest that he seems unsuitable for their Serie A title defense and Champions League -back.
A supporter placed: “Everyone with a technical eye would have seen that De Bruyne ran yesterday with incredible gravity and was often inaccurate with his balls.” Another brutal comment: “Give him an XL shirt, you let him eat too much.”
The allegations aimed at the midfielder were once a subject of Guardiola, who openly hit Kalvin Phillips because he was overweight. The Spaniard revealed that the English international had surpassed his weight goal when he returned from the World Cup 2022 in December.
Phillips – who has presented in just 31 games for citizens since his transfer of £ 42 million from Leeds United in 2022 – eventually received a delayed apology from Guardiola, who recognized his mistake.
“Yes, I'm sorry,” he said. 'Once every eight years is not bad. But I'm so sorry. I apologize. I spoke to him before [making the comment]. I never speak with the team before I say anything here, or the player in that case. “
The midfielder was sent twice on loan to West Ham and Ipswich Town during his stint with the city, and he spoke to Guardiola's comments about his weight.
Speaking with The Guardian, he said: “After the World Cup was probably the most difficult, when Pep came out and said I was overweight. He was right to do this, but there are different ways to tackle it.
“I don't disagree with him, but I clearly have a big knock on my self -confidence and how I felt in the city. And my family was not happy with it either. Especially my mother … It was just a misunderstanding and I think he was very frustrated that I returned 1.5 kg about my weight chair.”