Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne says things may have been a lot different at Chelsea if the club would have paid a large transfer fee for him instead of the £7 million they paid Genk for him back in 2012.
After he first joined the Blues he was sent back on-loan to Genk before being farmed out again to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for a season where he became the interest of several German teams including Wolfsburg who signed him from Chelsea for £16 million, after Jose Mourinho had already decided not to include the 22-year-old in any of his future plans.
Since joining Wolfsburg he has gone on to become one of the Bundesliga’s rising stars attracting the attention of Europe’s top clubs, who he says he would like a chance to play for one day.
When asked by Sport-BILD weekly about his time at Chelsea De Bruyne said:
“Maybe things would have been different if Chelsea had to pay €45m (£32m) and not €8m (£6.7m) when I arrived from Racing Genk.”
“A higher transfer fee would have potentially handed me a different sort of status inside the club. And possibly, handed me more chances (to play more regularly).”
De Bruyne only managed to play three games at Stamford Bridge, and said he always felt pushed out by Mourinho and Chelsea.
“Chelsea FC has not been the best choice at that point in time,” he added.
“Being with Chelsea is like being in a different world. Manager Jose Mourinho did not explain to me why I was not playing more regularly for the club.”
His current team Wolfsburg are in second place behind Bayern Munich and look set for Champions League football next season, and while he admits he is happy where he is, he would not mind another crack at a really big club again.
“I feel very much at home with VfL Wolfsburg in this very moment,” he added.
“Life in football can be fast-moving. Wolfsburg is not yet like Bayern Munich, of course and my biggest ambition is to play for a big European club – one I can win trophies with.”
