Romelu Lukaku has warned Kevin De Bruyne about one ‘unpleasant’ aspect of being a Napoli player, following the Belgian’s move to Italy.
What Did Romelu Lukaku Warn De Bruyne About Napoli?
Romelu Lukaku became an instant fan favorite after winning the Serie A title in his debut season at Napoli, contributing to 24 goals in 36 league appearances.
The prolific goalscorer has now been boosted by some recent transfer business, as Napoli have signed Lukaku’s Belgian teammate and friend, Kevin De Bruyne.
After a decade-long career with Manchester City, De Bruyne decided to move on to a new challenge following his contract expiration and left as a six-time Premier League winner.
The two soccer stars have made 79 appearances together for Belgium, contributing to 19 goals between themselves (either KDB assisting RL or vice versa) – meaning Napoli fans should be excited by their partnership next season.
Antonio Conte’s side are favorites to win the league title next season on Serie A betting sites and claim Italy’s biggest prize in consecutive seasons for the first time in history.
Lukaku spoke about De Bruyne’s move to Naples in a recent interview, as the former Manchester United striker revealed how he tempted the midfielder to join – but warned KDB over one unpleasant part to playing in Italy.
Lukaku said: “I’m happy he’s joining us. He’s exactly what Napoli needs to take the next step. We’ve just become champions, and we don’t just want to defend that title – we want to improve as well.
“I spoke to him a couple of times while on national team duty, and he also called me once. I explained how things work here. I also told him where he could look for a place to live and things like that. Dries Mertens and I did our best to convince him, and Kevin made the right choice.
“A Napoli player receives a lot of love. I’m happy that Kevin will get to experience that. Playing football in Italy is incomparable, there’s a kind of passion you don’t see elsewhere.
“But there’s also a downside, I’ve played at clubs where fans would show up at training when things weren’t going well. It’s not pleasant but it makes you realise you have to give everything, every single day.”
Why Did De Bruyne Join Napoli?
De Bruyne joined Manchester City in August 2015 for around $55 million and at the time, many called out the Cityzens for spending this amount on a relatively unproven player.
However, this was quickly put to rest as De Bruyne became one of the best midfielders in Premier League history and left with 193 goal contributions in 288 PL appearances (71G + 121A).
His final season in Manchester was slightly underwhelming, as City failed to win the league for the first time in four seasons and the Belgian registered just eight assists in all competitions – his lowest in a sky blue jersey.
This caused both the club and De Bruyne to ignore any renewed deal in Manchester, leaving the 33-year-old as a free agent which Napoli took full advantage of.
Gli Azzurri are also edging closer to another Premier League star, as Darwin Nunez has reportedly told a former Napoli player that he is committing to a deal with the Serie A champions.
