Napoli weigh De Bruyne extension option to 2028, bonus clause to 2029

De Bruyne's contract runs to 30 June 2027, but a clause lets Napoli add a season on their own. De Laurentiis is weighing that option, plus a bonus-linked year to 2029, as Allegri pushes to keep the Belgian for the rest of his own contract.

by Rosaria CimminoMonday 12 October, 18:05 CET· 3 hours ago

Kevin De Bruyne — Foto: Bryan Berlin · CC BY-SA 4.0

Kevin De Bruyne's contract runs out on 30 June 2027, but the deal signed by the Belgian midfielder contains a clause Napoli can trigger unilaterally: an automatic one-year extension, to 30 June 2028. After weeks in which a free-transfer exit looked like the most likely outcome, the idea gaining ground inside the club is different: activate that option. Aurelio De Laurentiis is also said to be considering a further clause, tied to appearance and goal bonuses, to stretch the agreement to 2029.

The talk comes in the days after Napoli's 3-0 win over Frosinone, where De Bruyne settled the game with a 29th-minute penalty and a 94th-minute goal set up by Giovane — a performance our newsroom has already covered.

For De Laurentiis, it is not just about the pitch. De Bruyne brings a huge following of supporters right across Europe, and for the president that counts for as much as his performances: keeping him also means keeping a name that drives marketing and image, in the club's centenary season.

Allegri wants him for the length of his own contract

The head coach adds the tactical argument. Allegri has moved De Bruyne into a deeper position, less frenetic than a pure No.10 role, and sees him as a long-term investment.

It can add a couple of years to his career.

Allegri would like to keep him for the whole of his own contract, which runs to 30 June 2029 — three seasons including the current one — and De Laurentiis appears ready to accommodate him on this point, whether De Bruyne plays in midfield or further forward.

The case lands while the rest of Napoli's renewal business tells a very different story. Anguissa has been stuck for weeks between a €6m demand and an offer of €3.6m net, with Milan already informed about a free transfer and Manna weighing a January sale. The McTominay file has been stalled since 1 October, between a €9m-a-season demand and Real Madrid sounding out his camp. That the club finds the room and the urgency to extend a player heading towards the end of his contract while letting two other midfield cases drift says something about the board's priorities, not just about De Bruyne's value.

For now it is an idea, not a signature: no clause has been activated and nothing has been made official. The January transfer window, from 2 January to 2 February 2027, could be the first real test of whether Napoli turn the option into a signed contract or De Bruyne becomes a free name on the international market.