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Napoli begins its title defence on the road against Sassuolo on Sunday (AEST), with De Bruyne in line to make his debut.

The Belgium midfielder spent 10 trophy-laden years with Manchester City before completing his free transfer to Naples in June.

De Bruyne headlined Napoli's additions this summer, having provided the most assists in all competitions among players in Europe's top five leagues during his time at City.

The 34-year-old recorded 170 assists in that time, with Lionel Messi in second with 147, and he looks set to improve Napoli's forward line heading into the new campaign. 

Another player who could be in line for his Serie A debut for Napoli is fellow summer recruit Lorenzo Lucca, who joined from Udinese on an initial loan deal. 

Lucca scored 12 times in the Italian top-flight last season, and could lead the line for Conte after Romelu Lukaku suffered an injury in Napoli's pre-season win over Olympiacos.

Despite being impressed by his new signings, Conte believes that Napoli's chances of retaining its Serie A crown remain slim.

"He [De Bruyne] immediately understood the difference between Manchester City and Napoli," Conte said.

"He's been very humble, attentive and intelligent. He's fit perfectly into this environment. "If we've signed him [Lucca] it's because we think he can help the team.

"We signed him to let him grow behind Lukaku, so we'll see how long that takes and how much he can give us.

"I could be the first coach to win two league titles with Napoli means that nobody has ever managed to do it before, so this already makes us understand the difficulty of doing so.

"We have to stay calm, it's a very, very difficult goal. We'll see what happens this year. We're pretty calm. We'll fly low and let others do the talking. We have to speak in facts.

"In pre-season, everyone says they worked well. We have also worked hard, but now we have to bring all of that onto the pitch.

"I don't care who the opponent is, the important thing is that others see Napoli as an opponent in the fight for the Scudetto."