De Bruyne: ‘I faced a very different style of playing in Italy compared to England’

Kevin De Bruyne has spoken about the differences in style of football in Italy compared to the Premier League and says that he is excited to be taking on Mohamed Salah when Belgium face Egypt at the 2026 World Cup on Monday evening: ‘Like old times’.

De Bruyne joined Napoli at the beginning of the 2025-26 season following a 10-year stint in the Premier League with Manchester City, during which time he won the league title six times and claimed the 2022-23 Champions League.

The experienced Belgian hit the ground running after moving to Serie A over the summer, providing four goals from his first eight league appearances before suffering a hamstring injury against Inter towards the end of October.

That would cause him to miss over four months of action and limit him to just 18 league appearances during his first season in Italy.

“It’s difficult to say, obviously I’ve been out for four or five months,” De Bruyne said during his pre-match press conference with Belgium when discussing his own condition heading into the World Cup.

De Bruyne also went on to discuss the differences he encountered playing in Italy compared to the Premier League.

“I really felt like at the beginning of the season and even when I came back I was pretty good considering everything that happened.

“I think I faced a very different style of playing in Italy than I was probably used to in England. In a way there are some things you can take about learning how to defend deep and all that kind of stuff. Sure, you take some things.”

Belgium’s upcoming match against Egypt will bring a battle of two modern-day Premier League greats in De Bruyne and Salah.

“You know, it’s going to be nice to see Mo (Salah) again,” said De Bruyne. “Omar (Marmoush) I know also. I played against Mo for 10 years. Our kids also went to the same school so I saw him from time to time and he’s a really nice guy, so it will be nice to see him, nice to compete again like old times.”