Mourinho reveals why Chelsea made De Bruyne mistake

Robin Bairner

• 18 Dec 2023 09:14 GMT
• 3 min read

Jose Mourinho has revealed why Chelsea sold Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg back in 2013 for €22 million.

It is a deal that has gone down as one of the Blues’ greatest mistakes, with De Bruyne excelling in the Bundesliga before being sold to Manchester City for a profit of over €50m before becoming a fulcrum of the team that ultimately claimed the treble in 2022/23.

Mourinho, who is currently head coach at Roma, rejected claims that he forced the Belgium international star out of the club.

Why did Chelsea sell De Bruyne?

De Bruyne was not given the playing time that he wanted while with Chelsea, Mourinho says, despite the Portuguese claiming that he wanted to integrate the playmaker into his first-team plans.

Speaking to the Obi One Podcast, Mourinho explained said: “We went to pre-season in Asia. We went to Indonesia, Thailand, and Kevin was due to go on loan to a German side. I told the club no, I don’t want him out on loan, I want him with me. He stayed with me, and he began the Premier League season playing in the starting 11.

“After that, we played the European Super Cup in Prague against Bayern and he didn’t play that game. Then, the next day, he wants to leave. We played the second Premier League game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford and we drew 0-0. He was on the bench and he played some minutes, but it wasn’t enough for him, so he wanted to leave.

“When you are at Chelsea and you want to leave, go and another one comes. They were just kids who couldn’t wait, and their careers say they were right, but it wasn’t down to me. Probably other guys will say I pushed them out, but not them.”

De Bruyne could be on the move again soon, with his contract at Man City up in 2025 and rumours that he could make a switch to the Saudi Pro League during the summer.