Is there a better midfielder in world football right now than Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne?The Belgian has been in scintillating form of late and delighted City fans on Wednesday by putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension.De Bruyne, who is now tied to the Premier League club until 2025, told City’s official website: “I could not be happier.“Since joining City in 2015, I have felt at home. I love the fans, my family are settled here in Manchester and my own game has developed really well.“My focus now is on ensuring we have a successful end to the current campaign. Our results and performances so far have been excellent, but we need to make sure we end the season with the silverware we deserve.”
De Bruyne impressed on Chelsea debut
However, Chelsea fans must scratch their heads every day wondering how on earth they allowed De Bruyne to leave Stamford Bridge in 2014 having only made nine appearances for the club.
The revered midfielder played three Premier League fixtures for the Blues before he was offloaded to Wolfsburg after one season.
The first of those league appearances came against Hull City in August 2013, and De Bruyne produced a Man of the Match performance on his debut as Chelsea registered a 2-0 victory.
You can watch his impressive highlights from that match here…
Or there’s another shorter version here…
Did Mourinho not rate De Bruyne?
This footage makes it even more puzzling why Jose Mourinho failed to give De Bruyne more opportunities.
Surely it was obvious to one of the sport’s most iconic managers - especially in training - that De Bruyne had the potential to become a world-class performer?
The Belgium international was interviewed alongside Frank Lampard on Sky Sports after the match…
And here’s what Chelsea fans are saying after watching his highlights back, years later…
De Bruyne: I only spoke with Mourinho twice
"There was so much in the press about my relationship with Jose Mourinho," De Bruyne explained to Sky Sports last month, per The Evening Standard. "But the truth is that I only ever spoke to him twice. The plan was always for me to go on loan for a bit.
"Jose called me into his office in December, and it was probably the second big life-changing moment for me. He had some papers in front of him, and he said, 'One assist. Zero goals. Ten recoveries'.
"It took me a minute to understand what he was doing. Then he started reading the stats of the other attacking forwards - Willian, Oscar, [Juan] Mata, [Andre] Schurrle. And it's like - five goals, 10 assists, whatever.
"Jose was just kind of waiting for me to say something, and finally I said, 'But... some of these guys have played 15, 20 games. I've only played three. So it's going to be different, no?'
"It was so strange. I was completely honest. I said, 'I feel like the club doesn't really want me here. I want to play football. I'd rather you sell me.'"
And the rest, as they say, is history.