Antonio Conte has given Kevin de Bruyne a clear warning about the rules upon his arrival at Napoli.
After a 10 year spell that saw him win 19 major trophies, Premier League legend De Bruyne left Manchester City once his contract expired at the end of the 2024/25 season.
As soon as it became clear that the Belgian midfielder's future laid away from the Etihad Stadium, several clubs were linked with a move, including Premier League rivals Liverpool.
However, in June it was announced that the 33-year-old had agreed a move to join Serie A side Napoli, agreeing a two-year deal.
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And upon his arrival, current manager Conte made sure to tell his new star player the ground rules that he has set at every club he has led throughout his career.
Across his spells at Juventus, Spurs and Chelsea, it has been widely reported that the Italian manager implemented a host of rules regarding nutrition.
In 2016, during his spell as Chelsea manager, Conte banned fizzy drinks, pizza, ketchup and brown sauce as part of an overhaul, with balsamic vinegar and olive oil eventually replacing salt and pepper.
After his move to London rivals Spurs five years later, Conte removed ketchup and mayonnaise from the menu, with defender Davinson Sanchez speaking out to reveal just what the manager expected of his players.
"He's demanding a lot," Sanchez told Sky Sports. "Whether it be from training sessions to meetings, eating and sleeping.
"It's linking with the performance work and then that allows you to be able to help the team to make more effort on the pitch. The performances are coming more easily and you feel healthy in the way that you are playing and training as well.”
Given the wealth of experience De Bruyne has across the highest level of professional sports you would expect that he would have no issue following rules set in place by his manager.
However, his behaviour during Sunday’s Serie A away match against Milan may suggest otherwise, as De Bruyne openly showed his frustration at being taken off early in the game.
According to several Italian outlets, Conte decided not to speak to the midfielder and instead address the entire team about the behaviour he expects.
Corriere dello Sport claims that Conte warned his team that such behaviour will only be tolerated once, something that De Bruyne listened to, but didn’t reply.
Conte also addressed De Bruyne's actions during his post-match press conference, saying: "I hope he was irritated at the result, because if he was irritated about something else, he is dealing with the wrong person."
Topics: Football, Kevin De Bruyne, Antonio Conte, Napoli, Serie A
Ben McCrum