René van der Gijp sees little point in talks between PSV and Kevin De Bruyne. The Voetbal International analyst believes the 35-year-old Napoli midfielder is past his best.
''A special player. But he used up his energy at Manchester City,'' Van der Gijp says in response to news that De Bruyne could make his debut in the Vriendenloterij Eredivisie.
Johan Derksen cuts in. ''That other guy is doing well. The one from the Eastern Bloc, Perisic,'' he says. ''He's doing really well.''
Disagreeing with Van der Gijp's assessment, sports marketer Chris Woerts says: ''De Bruyne is 35. He can still hold his own at PSV. He's earning 11.5 million at Napoli now.''
''Those good players can still hold their own in the Dutch league. In a serious league, they can't manage it any more,'' Derksen adds.
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Italian journalist Nicolo Schira broke the story from Italy early on Thursday morning, and Dutch newspapers were soon full of De Bruyne news.
After Turkey v Belgium (1-2) in the Nations League, in which De Bruyne scored once, he was asked about the interest. ''When I got up this morning, I saw that a lot of people had sent me something.''
''Right now I'm here and just doing my job. I'm having a good season and I'm happy that I'm fit to help the team and can play matches,'' he concluded. ''Whatever comes, comes.''
De Bruyne has a contract at Napoli until mid-2027, with the option of an extra season. Transfermarkt estimates his current value at eight million euros.