De Bruyne Reveals Frosty Relationship With Mourinho

By Max Wise

Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne has revealed that he only spoke twice to Jose Mourinho during their time together at Chelsea.

De Bruyne joined Chelsea from Belgian side Genk in January 2012 but was loaned out to Werder Bremen for the 2012/2013 season before making a return to Stamford Bridge the following season.

De Bruyne’s return to Chelsea coincided with Jose Mourinho’s second spell at the club with the Portuguese trainer assuring him of playing time despite his desire to leave.

"There was so much in the press about my relationship with Jose Mourinho," De Bruyne, 27, told the Players' Tribune.

"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."

De Bruyne said: "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."

Despite starting in two of Chelsea’s first four league games in the 2013/2014 season, De Bruyne soon found himself back on the bench and was sold to Wolfsburg in January 2014 for £18m.

 "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'," De Bruyne said.

"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.”

De Bruyne has developed into one of Europe’s best playmakers since leaving Chelsea, and he became Manchester City’s most expensive signing when he joined them from Wolfsburg for £55m in the summer of 2015.