Do we like them?

Do we like Kevin De Bruyne?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful found and some real charity work, but the record on how he treats people is thin and he has a few stroppy moments on file.

De Bruyne is a Belgian midfielder who joined Napoli as a free agent in 2025. His first season was hit by injury: he played 21 games for five goals and four assists, and Napoli finished second in Serie A. He's now under a new coach, Massimiliano Allegri, who replaced Antonio Conte for 2026-27.

The oldest stain is from 2015, when he was at Wolfsburg. Stadium microphones caught him swearing at a ball boy to get the ball back quickly, and the German football association's sports court fined him. He apologised to the ball boy, and nothing like it has turned up in the sources we read since.

At Napoli the drama has been football drama. In October 2025 he was visibly cranky when subbed off in a loss to AC Milan, and rumours of a rift with Conte flew. He said “There's no problem with Conte.” By July 2026 he had criticised Conte's defensive tactics, citing “different visions of football”, and the club's sporting director said he didn't love the comments but “there's no problem”.

Now the harm check. Searches on LGBTQ+ people, women, race, migrants, vaccines and the climate turned up no harmful words or acts from him, no campaigns, and no habit of working with people who push harm. That's an absence of evidence, not a ringing endorsement, since he's a footballer who mostly keeps quiet on politics. Fair to say the record here is thin.

The recent stuff is mostly about his body and his future. The Napoli director said he was an important investment who “delivered less than his potential”, and De Bruyne has told fans he intends to be back at full fitness. His long-term plans are still unclear, so don't expect a tidy ending.

On the good side, in August 2025 he put a painting from his personal art collection up for auction for charity. The proceeds go to a Ghent University Hospital metabolic diseases fund. He wrote that “Art can change lives” and said he was moved as a father by how many children suffer from these conditions.