Scott McTominay lands new Napoli teammate on lucrative deal and faces Serie A competition after 'king' tweet

The Belgian internationalist is out of contract after ending a glittering ten-year spell at English side Manchester City, where he won the Premier League six times and the Champions League.

De Bruyne was wanted by a host of clubs across the globe, but Napoli - who pipped Internazionale to win Serie A for only the fourth time in their history - have won the race for his signature.

The 33-year-old will add to a midfield which has two Scotland internationalists in it in the shape of McTominay and Billy Gilmour. The Scottish duo joined Napoli last season and have become important members of the squad under manager Antonio Conte, with former Manchester United midfielder McTominay netting 12 goals and winning the Italian top flight’s player of the year award.

He will have competition now to be the darling of the Napoli support, with a tweet from Gli Azzurri, which showed De Bruyne sitting on a throne, read: “King Kev is here.” A further tweet read, “Welcome to SS Napoli Kevin De Bruyne”, while club president Aurelio De Laurentiis also released a photograph of himself shaking hands with the player.

No contract details have yet been given, but it is understood that Napoli have made De Bruyne a lucrative offer to come to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The move became widely anticipated after De Laurentiis confirmed talks had been held with De Bruyne last month. He also revealed De Bruyne had already bought property in the area.

De Bruyne had previously expressed hope of staying at City but the club decided not to offer him a new deal as they undertake an overhaul of the squad following an underwhelming season. He leaves City as one of the most decorated players in the club’s history having helped them to 16 trophy successes since moving from Wolfsburg in a £55million deal in 2015. In all, De Bruyne made 422 appearances for City, scoring 108 goals and registering 170 assists.

“Everyone at Manchester City wishes Kevin the very best of luck on this new chapter of his career,” said the Premier League club in a statement confirming his departure, while Napoli added: “Kevin is proud to be one of us!”

The arrival of De Bruyne is a significant move, especially as Conte had threatened to leave Napoli if his ambitions in the transfer market were not matched by the club’s hierarchy.