De Bruyne in Mourinho's team plans

De Bruyne: Looking to kickstart his career at Chelsea

Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne will be a part of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s plans next year, according to Bayer Leverkusen general manager Michael Reschke. Leverkusen were trying to get the young attacking midfielder to the BayArena as a part of the deal which sees Andre Schurrle move to Stamford Bridge. But the playmaker is set to stay at the Bridge this time as he impressed Jose Mourinho after his stand-out performance versus Serbia on Friday, a game that Belgium won 2-1 courtesy of a goal and an assist from De Bruyne.

De Bruyne was bought for £7 million from Belgian club Genk in January 2012. He signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea, and would stay at Genk for the remainder of the 2011–12 season. But the 21-year-old hasn’t made a single appearance for Chelsea and spent the last season on loan at Werder Bremen. He had a great season at Weserstadion, scoring 10 goals and assisting 9 in 33 Bundesliga games. His stunning form didn’t go unnoticed as he was also linked with a move to Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund as a replacement for Bayern-bound Gotze. Bayer Leverkusen were thought to be in pole position to sign the player, but the club’s managing director has now confirmed that De Bruyne will not be leaving Stamford Bridge next season.

“At a meeting on Wednesday in Leipzig, Chelsea and Jose Mourinho made it clear that Kevin returns to Chelsea.

“It was not possible to connect it with the Andre Schurrle transfer.” Reschke said.

De Bruyne’s international team-mate Romelu Lukaku, who had also failed to make an impression on Mourinho’s predecessors at Chelsea, has been told that he will have a role to play in their next season’s campaign. However another Belgian, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, will be sent on loan to Atletico Madrid for the third consecutive season as Chelsea deem the keeper to not be good enough to displace Petr Cech yet..