Kevin De Bruyne looked devastated as he was forced to be substituted straight after scoring for Napoli on Saturday. The former Manchester City midfielder appeared to pick up an injury in the process of finding the net against Inter Milan.

De Bruyne stepped up to take the spot-kick and whipped his effort into the bottom left corner before instantly hobbling., Rather than celebrating his fourth Serie A goal of the season, he held his hamstring and came to a halt in the box.

He was then surrounded by his teammates, who looked concerned for him, pausing and checking if he was okay. De Bruyne looked across to the Napoli bench for treatment, and the emotion was clear to see on his face.

He appeared to be using his teammates’ shoulders to keep his balance and take some weight off his injured leg. The Belgian was eventually helped off the pitch by the Italian side’s medical staff after just 37 minutes of the match.

Napoli managed to maintain their lead until half-time, heading in at the break 1-0 up against Inter before going on to win the game 3-1, with Scott McTominay netting the second .But manager Antonio Conte will be extremely concerned over the fitness of De Bruyne after his injury. The 34-year-old has made six starts since heading to Italy, scoring four goals, with three of those coming from the spot.

His only assists since arriving at Napoli have come in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon.

Major concern

A hamstring injury is a nightmare scenario for De Bruyne, as he has a history of serious issues with his right leg. And there will now be huge concerns of a long lay-off.

The Premier League icon underwent surgery on his right hamstring in August 2023, missing four months of action in that season.

Before deciding to undergo the procedure, he had already suffered multiple problems in the same area the campaign before.

After returning to action last season, things didn’t go too smoothly for De Bruyne either.

Man City boss Pep Guardiola spoke of a complicated injury for his superstar, as he missed 44 days and 12 games in total.

What has De Bruyne said about his hamstring issues?
De Bruyne discussed the struggles with his hamstring that led to him undergoing surgery on it while at Man City. He told City’s website in February 2024: “I was pretty fit, and everything seemed OK, and I started the game against Burnley pretty well, but I did a movement and popped my hamstring again.

“I was very frustrated and wanted to just go back inside because I’d done everything I could to be ready for the new season.

“I didn’t feel it was that bad and could walk, but the next day, I couldn’t walk on it at all, and I knew I had a big problem because that had never happened before.”

De Bruyne added: “Basically, I’m a 32-year-old footballer who has been playing 15 years, made almost 700 appearances, had a couple of hamstring injuries and the surgeon told me my hamstring was like a wet paper towel.

“The tendon was ruptured, they needed to clean it out and it was the best decision.”