Jose Mourinho: Chelsea FC Sold Kevin De Bruyne Because He Cried
With Manchester City considering a move for Kevin De Bruyne, Jose Mourinho has been asked why Chelsea FC sold him
In a transfer that many Chelsea FC fans were not happy with, Jose Mourinho sold Kevin De Bruyne in January 2014 to the tune of £18million. De Bruyne has subsequently enjoyed much success at Wolfsburg, and Mourinho has had to field questions regarding the Belgian on numerous occasions.
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The boss has always stayed strong in his stance that De Bruyne just did not fit in at Stamford Bridge, and it was best for all parties involved that he move on. However, this time perhaps he showed signs of being genuinely fed up with the matter, as he adopted a more insulting tone.
"With De Bruyne, if you have a player knocking on your door and crying every day he wants to leave, you have to make a decision."
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Wow. Cry-baby eh? I’m not too convinced that De Bruyne will exactly brush such a comment off. I am not saying that the winger is going to enter a war of words with Mourinho, but it will certainly register with him personally.
Mourinho has previously hinted at De Bruyne’s unhappiness at Stamford Bridge when pressed upon the subject, but he has always answered the questions in a relatively diplomatic fashion.
Speaking about De Bruyne’s departure mere weeks ago, the boss was far more kind to the player and just said that it was a situation that was simply not to be.
"He didn’t tell me he couldn’t handle the pressure. He told me [what] he didn’t like and that he wanted to play every weekend. I told him this is Chelsea, you are very young, you have Eden Hazard, you have Juan Mata, you have Willian, you have Andre Schurrle, and I cannot promise you that. – The Daily Mail"
However, this latest response indicates that he is perhaps rueing letting De Bruyne go. This would be for good reason too. The Belgian had a stellar season last time out, making over 50 competitive appearances and scoring 16 goals. He also racked up 21 assists to top the Bundesliga in that regard while his overall performances led to him being named both Bundesliga and German Player of the Year.
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The reason why De Bruyne is constantly brought up is not because he has had success since leaving Chelsea, but more because title rivals Manchester City have been linked with a move for the player throughout the summer. Some reports state that City were even lining up an offer worth £50million at one point.
Even if that particular bid did not materialise, Manuel Pellegrini still supposedly has the Belgian on his radar.
Mourinho, though, insists that what he and the club did was beneficial at the time, and is still beneficial with hindsight.
"At that time, Chelsea did well. If De Bruyne stayed here, not happy and not motivated, and we’d sold him after a year, we’d have got less — 50 percent less than what we sold him for. So we sold him. At that moment, it was very good business."
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This is absolutely valid. When the Blues sold him, he still had a few years to run on his contract and more importantly was an active player. If they had kept him for another year rotting away on the bench, his value would have plummeted. Furthermore, he wouldn’t have been able to develop into the quality player that he is now, a fact that Mourinho acknowledges.
"If he was at Chelsea and not at Wolfsburg, he wouldn’t have reached this level. It was like a wall, a block. He was not ready to compete. He was an upset kid, training very bad."
This is the sad case of Kevin De Bruyne. Chelsea fans may complain that the Blues let him go, but the fact of the matter is that he needed game time to develop into the talent that he is today. With his attitude, it was unlikely that Mourinho would afford him that, especially given the talent that Chelsea already had on their books.
Can we consider this issue done and dusted then?
All quotes taken from The Express unless stated otherwise.
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