Given that Everton’s owners have put the club up for sale, it may be optimistic to expect them to make any significant investments in January – but according to one new transfer rumour which has emerged from Italy, at least one ambitious and rather eyebrow-raising deal could be on the cards.

On Monday, Calciomercato reported that Everton had enquired about the availability of Kevin de Bruyne, who is set to enter the final six months of his contract at Napoli after moving to the Serie A side in 2025. But is signing the Manchester City legend a realistic prospect – and would it even be desirable at this point in his career.

Everton enquire about Kevin de Bruyne deal – reports

Calciomercato’s report suggests that Everton have already made contact with the 35-year-old De Bruyne’s entourage to assess the chances of getting a deal done in January – but his reply is not revealed in their story.

De Bruyne has been at Napoli for 18 months but has cut an inconsistent figure at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, dividing opinion among supporters, and there are some grounds to believe that his side could consider offers in January given that the Belgian’s contract is set to expire next summer.

Napoli hold an option to extend his current deal, which is reported to be worth over £175,000 per week, for another year, but his up-and-down performances suggest that they may not view that as a financially sound decision. There are no indications that they are shopping De Bruyne around, but the opportunity to recoup some of their investment may prove to be tempting.

According to Calciomercato, they have not made a decision about whether to listen to Everton’s overtures and as such the size of the transfer fee that would be required is not yet known. This is a deal that is in a very early stage, and the likelihood that it can be done is difficult to determine.

Much may depend on De Bruyne’s form between now and January, but Napoli’s own performances may influence the final decision too – they have been disappointing since the summer and currently sit in mid-table after finishing second to Inter last season. If they continue to lose ground on the top four, then the notion of selling De Bruyne might become more appealing given that they risk significant losses if they miss out on a Champions League place.

The fact that they could feasibly consider a sale is, of course, also an indictment of De Bruyne’s form since signing for Napoli. So could he still do a job for an Everton side with pretensions on a European place but also one of the Premier League’s less threatening attacks?

Is De Bruyne still good enough for the Premier League?

De Bruyne was also starting to become productive during his last season at the Etihad, although he still managed a combined total of 14 goals and assists in 40 games for Manchester City before they made the decision to let him leave the club. At Napoli, however, he has struggled to make the impact he might have hoped for.

He scored five times and provide four more goals during a somewhat disappointing 2025/26 campaign, and had four goals and two assists in 15 appearances so far this season – but as his critics in Campania would point out, he has tended to be productive in games against weaker opposition. His two goals against Frosinone would feel more meaningful if he hadn’t struggled against Lazio, Inter and Juventus, for instance.

Calciomercato go as far as to suggest that he is “in decline mentally” in their own appraisal of his situation at Napoli and while that may go too far, there are many statistical markers which suggest a player whose best years are now behind him.

For instance, he is providing 50% fewer key passes than he did during the 2023/24 season with Manchester City, which was his last first-rate year as a creative force in the Premier League. Everton need a creator who can provide more chances, but there’s an argument that De Bruyne isn’t that player any more.

It’s also worth noting that signing the Belgian would mean that he was competing for a place with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who is already doing a fine job in that position. Everton could do with more production from out wide and certainly need some back-up for Thierno Barry up front, but the number 10 role is not their biggest problem and it’s hard to imagine David Moyes playing De Bruyne in a deeper role.

It may be that Calciomercato’s reporting is wide of the mark - as a gossip website, it’s fair to say that they don’t have a 100% hit rate - or that Everton are simply doing some due diligence on a deal that isn’t necessarily a priority for them, but a bid for De Bruyne would be an intriguing and perhaps illogical angle of attack for them ahead of the January transfer window. The hope is that they’d be signing a player who still had a year or two of his best football left in him somewhere. The evidence provided at Napoli, however, suggests that his best is behind him.