Did Man City let De Bruyne leave too soon?

‘Legendary’, ‘pure class’ and ‘on another level’ are just some of the terms used to describe Kevin de Bruyne this week.

The Belgian is enjoying one of his best starts to a season since moving to Napoli on a free transfer this summer which begs the question, did he leave Manchester City a year too early?

The exodus of senior City players in the past year has been well documented, with the likes of Ederson, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Kyle Walker all leaving for pastures new.

De Bruyne was also deemed surplus to requirements – despite 16 trophies and more than 400 appearances – and the midfielder, reluctant to leave, joined Napoli when his contract expired in June.

“I was a bit surprised but I just have to accept it,” said De Bruyne back in April. “Honestly, I still think I can perform at this level like I’m showing, but I understand clubs have to make decisions.”

De Bruyne has begun 2025-26 in sparkling form, underlined by two goals from the penalty spot during Belgium’s 4-2 win in Wales on Monday night.

The Belgian also appears to have slotted in seamlessly to life in Serie A and, while he is yet to register a league assist, he has created the equal-second most chances among all midfielders.

Manchester City, meanwhile, have made a strong but not spectacular start to the campaign on all fronts, with six wins, two draws and two defeats from their opening 10 fixtures.

One of those wins came against De Bruyne’s Napoli at Etihad Stadium, with the Belgian’s highly-anticipated homecoming lasting just 26 minutes after team-mate Giovanni di Lorenzo was sent off.

De Bruyne also appears to be fully fit, having struggled to maintain his fitness towards the end of his time in the Premier League.

He made only 34 league starts across the past two seasons with City but has already started five of Napoli’s six Serie A matches, appearing from the bench in the other.

De Bruyne has already represented Belgium in three World Cups and is one of the last remaining players from his country’s much vaunted ‘golden generation’.

“We’re so lucky to have a player like Kevin,” said his former national coach – and now Portugal manager – Roberto Martinez in 2022. “For me he’s the most incredible playmaker in world football at this present time.”

However, Belgium have employed two head coaches since Martinez and De Bruyne was stripped of the captaincy at the start of September by the latest boss Rudi Garcia – a role he had held since March 2023.

Garcia selected Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans as his new skipper, adding that he is “the link between the golden generation and the younger players”.

The 34-year-old De Bruyne accepted the decision and responded in typical fashion by scoring five times in his first four games under Garcia, with his double against Wales putting the Red Devils top of their qualifying group and in touching distance of a fourth successive World Cup appearance.