Joe Hart says De Bruyne at Napoli reminds him of player Guardiola wants rid of at Man City

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester City cult hero Joe Hart has claimed that the Kevin De Bruyne situation at Napoli reminds him of that of a player Pep Guardiola wants to offload.

Manchester City allowed Kevin De Bruyne’s contract to run down last season, with Pep Guardiola opting to offload him in favour of fresh legs in midfield.

De Bruyne was linked with a MLS move, but eventually he opted to join Napoli, who are the reigning Serie A champions.

And Joe Hart believes a player currently on Man City’s books is now in a similar situation.

Joe Hart compares Kevin De Bruyne situation to that of Jack Grealish

On Thursday, Man City took on De Bruyne’s Napoli in the Champions League.

Speaking ahead of the game, Hart said the Belgian’s situation reminded him of that of Jack Grealish.

Hart noted how Grealish now has a lot more freedom in Everton’s line-up, and suggested that De Bruyne could get a similar level of flexibility.

“Think it will suit him so much, you know,” Hart told TNT Sports.

“And just Jack Grealish just springs to mind, you know, going to Everton and almost having that flexibility, that sort of talent to just take control of the game.

“There’s no doubt that systems really do suit teams now, and Guardiola’s Man City have been so successful.

“But for Conte to come away from that, like you say, we were so used to that 3-5-2, and now being able to have a Kevin De Bruyne who he can trust.

“You know, he’s not just letting him do whatever he wants – he trusts him to work hard on and off the ball and to take control of the game. It’s really exciting to see.”

READ MORE: Erling Haaland has now done something that has utterly overshadowed Man United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy

How Kevin De Bruyne got on against Manchester City

Most of the pre-match talk about Man City vs Napoli centred around De Bruyne’s return to the Etihad after just a few months away.

Fate brought the two parties together once again, but sadly the harsh realities of football ended up ruining De Bruyne’s evening.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s early red card meant Conte had to bring on another defender, and De Bruyne was the player chosen to make way for Mathias Olivera.

Napoli fans were gutted by De Bruyne’s substitution, even though many understood that his exit would likely affect the team the least on the night.

Although De Bruyne only played for just over a quarter of the game, he still weighed in with several contributions.

For instance, De Bruyne’s pass accuracy percentage was 100 percent as he completed all eight of his passes.

In addition, both of De Bruyne’s long-ball deliveries found the intended target – so all in all, not a bad display against his former side.