The Curious case of Kevin De Bruyne

The situation De Bruyne finds himself at Chelsea is quite baffling. The youngster has not played much since he came back from his successful loan at Werder Bremen. Apart from the fact that the midfielder scored an encouraging 10 goals from 32 performances at the German side last season, he was also a key player for Belgium in the World Cup qualifiers.

Various reports have suggested that De Bruyne has fell out of favour with Jose Mourinho. Back in October, just before the champions league match against Steaua Bucharest, it was reported the midfielder was made to train with the under 21s. Mourinho also reacted angrily in Romania when he was questioned about De Bruyne.

“Kevin is not here. It’s my decision. My option. This is fantastic because no one asks me about Mata. You’ve spoken about matter for three weeks. Now you are asking about Kevin.

”Only eleven can play and I try to decide, by what they do on the pitch when they play and in training

“I make mistakes, but I try to be honest all the time. I was honest with Juan because of what he has done in training and what he has done in the game he played – so he plays. With Kevin, I don’t like the match he played against Swindon and I didn’t like the way he was training.

“But you ask about the guys who were not selected. Thank you”

Let’s put the amazing potential of De Bruyne aside for a moment. From the words for Jose Mourinho [the quotes above], one can see why he is the least preferred option out of the midfielders at Chelsea. Mourinho likes it when his midfielders track back. He has emphasized this belief through his selections and his comments to the press many a times.

For Mourinho, as a midfielder, you have to work hard with or without the ball. Even though your primary duty is to attack and create chances; you have to support your team at the back. This is one of the various reasons while Mourinho prefers Hazard, Oscar, Willian and even Schurlle to Mata and De Bruyne.

Another thing is the issue of desire. De Bruyne has not showed the hunger and the enthusiasm to get back into the side with the little minutes given to him. And that’s a bit surprising.

When things are not going well for you as a player [especially when it comes to ‘playing chances’], the best you can do is to work on the bad areas of your game and train hard to change the mind of the manager. Cesar Azpilicueta and Willian have done that this season. So far, it’s working for them.

Other clubs are monitoring the situation of the Belgian and they are ready to make a move if they get the green light from Chelsea. Bayer Leverkusen’s Director of Sport Rudi Voller made it known recently that the German club are interested in De Bruyne.

“We made no secret of our interest in Kevin De Bruyne right from last summer. There are many clubs interested in him. Regardless of our league position, we’re always looking for new players”

The Werder Bremen camp echoed the same thing. General Manager, Thomas Eichin Kreiszetung said that his club would love to have De Bruyne once more.

“His [Kevin De Bruyne] agent is aware of our interest in his services. I will be getting to know if there’s a chance to re-sign Kevin De Bruyne on loan to our club.

“If this is possible, we will have to wait and see if such a deal can be really worked out. Everybody at Werder Bremen knows all about the quality of Kevin De Bruyne”

The obvious solution right now will be loan or permanent transfer. If Chelsea loan him out, he can get the much needed playing time which will help him develop his talents further. He can also be sold for a substantial fee which will be beneficial to Chelsea especially in this new era of financial fair play.

For De Bruyne however, a permanent transfer should be his target.  He does not fit into Mourinho’s style and from the look of things he might never fit in. Either Loan or permanent transfer, De Bruyne needs games to make Brazil. We should see some sort of movement in January.