Kevin De Bruyne to Chelsea transfer truth as Man City told shock Premier League return stance

Kevin De Bruyne has already revealed whether or not he'd return to Chelsea. The 33-year-old midfielder has announced he will leave Manchester City following the expiration of his contract at the end of the season.

Since joining City from Wolfsburg for £54.5m in 2015, De Bruyne has featured 413 times across all competitions, scoring 106 and providing 174 assists. The Belgium international enjoyed a trophy-laden decade at the Etihad Stadium.

He won six Premier League titles, five League Cups, three Community Shields, two FA Cups, the Champions League and the Club World Cup. De Bruyne will go down as one of the greatest players to play in the English top flight – but his career could have taken a different route had he stayed at Stamford Bridge.

De Bruyne joined Chelsea from KRC Genk in January 2012 before returning to his boyhood club on loan for the remainder of the season. Then, upon his arrival at Cobham training ground, he was swiftly sent out on loan – as previously agreed – to Werder Bremen.

The former Blue first made a name for himself in the Bundesliga, scoring ten goals and providing nine assists in his first 33 games. De Bruyne briefly returned to West London, appearing a handful of times under Jose Mourinho in the Premier League.

Despite an impressive breakthrough campaign at Bremen, it didn't quite work for the Belgian at Chelsea. Then in the January transfer window, he joined VfL Wolfsburg – and, as they say, the rest is history.

Speaking to German newspaper Sport Bild back in May 2015, De Bruyne was quizzed on a potential return to the Blues. As quoted by the Express, he insisted he wouldn't be tempted to return to Chelsea if Mourinho was still the manager.

"I think, to be honest, that I would not return to Chelsea as long as he is in charge," said De Bruyne. "I know that I like the Bundesliga, and it always did me good. But I don't fear to return to England or to play in Spain.

"I believe I can make it there. You can't compare my time at Chelsea with what is now. If it's like that [with Munich interested] then Bayern have to talk to Wolfsburg. Then those responsible will know what the deal is."

Then in an interview with The Players' Tribune in April 2019, De Bruyne explained where it all went wrong at Chelsea. He said: "There was so much in the press about my relationship with Jose Mourinho.

"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. Mourinho texted me, 'You are staying. I want you to be part of this team.' So I thought, OK, great. I'm in his plans."

De Bruyne added: "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, Mata, Schürrle. 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.'"

While Mourinho is no longer in the dugout at Stamford Bridge, it remains to be seen whether De Bruyne would be open to re-signing for Chelsea...

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