The former Napoli coach was particularly emphatic about the Belgian, while also explaining why he believes Scott McTominay’s performances should be judged differently and why Napoli’s level drops dramatically when key midfielders are absent.
“Those who say De Bruyne cannot be useful to Napoli are crazy,” Agostinelli told Football Presse.
“McTominay had a difficult moment, but it wasn’t just a question of position. It was a physical situation, a period where he was not at his best.”
That judgement looks particularly relevant now. McTominay is set to miss around a month after being diagnosed with a benign heart rhythm problem, leaving Massimiliano Allegri to find a temporary solution in midfield.
For Agostinelli, there should never have been much doubt about what De Bruyne could bring.
“De Bruyne can miss one game, maybe two, but a great player like him cannot be missing for three months. You cannot think that a player of his level is not useful to Napoli.
“He is a player who can make the difference. When you have someone like that, you have to find a way to use him.”
The Belgian has already shown his influence since arriving in Naples, while Allegri is now considering how best to accommodate him in a side that also contains McTominay, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka. With McTominay temporarily unavailable, current reports indicate De Bruyne is the natural replacement.
Agostinelli also believes McTominay’s importance should not be underestimated.
“He was not just having a problem with where he was playing. Sometimes a player goes through a period where physically he is not at his best, and that can affect everything.
“But McTominay is an important player. He gives you physicality, he arrives in the box, he gives you something different. You cannot judge him only on one difficult period.”
The bigger concern, Agostinelli argues, is what happens when Napoli lose several of those players simultaneously.
“At the moment, Napoli without De Bruyne and Anguissa is a lot, eh, in a negative way.”
That is why he sees the combination of the three midfielders as potentially decisive.
“I want to imagine Napoli with McTominay, De Bruyne and Anguissa all available. Then you have a team with enormous quality and physical strength.
“If you add the other players Napoli have, you are talking about a team that can still be one of the absolute favourites for the championship.”
Agostinelli’s verdict on Napoli extends beyond the midfield.
“Napoli are now a European-level team. They have become a team that can compete at that level, but Naples is not an easy place because expectations have become even higher.
“When you win, people expect you to win again. That is the difficulty of Napoli, but they have the quality to do it.”
The opening weeks of Allegri’s reign have already shown how important those midfield choices could become. Napoli began with a win at Genoa before losing 2-1 at home to Como, with De Bruyne introduced from the bench in the second half.
With McTominay temporarily out, the responsibility on De Bruyne and Anguissa becomes even greater — precisely the situation Agostinelli was warning about when he assessed Napoli’s midfield as the engine room of another potential title challenge.