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Former Chelsea midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that a strange discussion with Jose Mourinho led to him departing from Stamford Bridge in 2014.
Speaking to Sky Sports, as reported by Four Four Two, De Bruyne said:
''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.''
''I decided to go away because I felt I didn't have any chances of playing at the time. I didn't see more opportunities coming so for me, it was the best decision to leave Chelsea and go to a situation where I felt I could start again."
''Did I expect it to go this way? Obviously not, because at that time it was a low point in my career but I never had any doubt in my abilities as a football player."
''I can't think what is going to happen eight years down the line playing for City, in World Cups and all that stuff. It's wonderful.''
Kevin de Bruyne left Chelsea in January 2014, having made just three Premier League appearances for the Blues.
He has since gone on to become the best midfielder in the Premier League and is the reigning PFA Player of the Year.
Chelsea have learned from past mistakes by giving young players an opportunity
Kevin de Bruyne is just one of several young players who slipped from Chelsea's fingers due to lack of adequate playing time at Stamford Bridge.
Other high-profile players on the list include the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Mohamed Salah, Thorgan Hazard and Daniel Sturridge.
The Chelsea academy is arguably the best in England and one of the best in the world, with several talented players having come out of Cobhams in the last decade.
However, they usually do not make the grade in the Blues first team, with an infamous loan system seeing a host of academy players spend several unproductive years undergoing different loan spells.
For a long period, John Terry was the only player who came through the academy to become a bonafide club legend, while huge sums were spent on augmenting the club with marquee players.
But things have started to change in recent years, chiefly due to the transfer ban that affected Chelsea in 2019.
Academy-trained players like Kurt Zouma, Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi have all become mainstays in the first team.
Hopefully they can continue to set the pace for other young players coming through the ranks.
