PSV move for De Bruyne as Napoli weigh a January sale

PSV Eindhoven are now the club pushing hardest for Kevin De Bruyne. For days the talk was of San Diego and Everton. Now the Eredivisie side, who rate the Belgian highly, want to move early and sign him in January. Their offer is expected to reach Napoli in the coming weeks.

The numbers on De Bruyne are simple. He joined on a free transfer last season, so every euro of a fee would count as profit on the books. His market value is now estimated at around €8m and falling. A few months ago it was €10-15m. He earns €6m net a season plus €1.5m in bonuses, and a January sale would save at least €3m over the second half of the season.

His contract runs to June 2027, and the club holds a one-sided option to extend it to 2028. Faced with a convincing offer from PSV, the club could decide not to use it and let him go straight away. The door was already open when San Diego came calling: on the right terms, Napoli would not have stood in the way.

Good for the accounts, not for the team

This is where it gets harder, because money on the balance sheet does not show up on the pitch. De Bruyne started the 1-1 draw with Lazio on Sunday 8 November. Lobotka is out with a left ankle problem and will be back in mid-December. Anguissa's contract expires in June 2027 and a new deal looks difficult. On McTominay's extension, the club and his agent are stuck on the figures.

Selling De Bruyne in January would weaken a midfield that is already shaky. On the other hand, the club needs more big sales to fund the January window, and his name is among those being discussed. There is also a practical problem: the club's Serie A squad list is full, and a place has to be freed to re-register Buongiorno in January.

Our question is a different one. De Bruyne, born in 1991, arrived to raise the level of a team that expected to be at the top. A year and a half later he could leave for around €8m, with Napoli tenth on 15 points, nine behind the fourth place Allegri set as the target. Selling him only makes sense if that money, plus the €3m saved in wages, becomes a midfielder who plays straight away.

On 6 November at Castel Volturno, the training ground, De Laurentiis promised reinforcements in January. If De Bruyne does go, the sale should be judged against that promise.

Before any Dutch offer, there is football to play. Torino visit the Maradona on Saturday 21 November at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET), Napoli's first home game since the fans' protest during the Lazio match. Three days later Napoli face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.