Kevin De Bruyne's highlights on his Chelsea debut make it even more perplexing that he wasn't given a proper chance at Stamford Bridge.
Signed from Genk, De Bruyne made just nine appearances for the Blues - only three of which came in the Premier League under Jose Mourinho.
Hindsight is a great thing but his performance in his first game for the West London makes Chelsea's decision to sell him even more perplexing.
De Bruyne was Man of the Match as Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners against Hull City in their first game of the 2013/14 campaign.
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He laid on a lovely assist for Oscar and there was plenty of promising aspects of his game during his 66 minutes on the pitch.
A game against Swindon Town in the League Cup is believed to have convinced Mourinho that De Bruyne wasn't up to it and ended up being sold to Wolfsburg for £18 million in January.
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Recalling a meeting with Mourinho to Sky Sports last month, De Bruyne said: "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.'"
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In Germany, where he had been briefly on loan at Werder Bremen, De Bruyne established himself as one of the best players and was involved in 57 goals (20 goals and 37 assists) in 73 appearances in all competitions.
His form prompted Manchester City to splash out a then-club-record £54 million to bring him back to the Premier League in 2015.
Sky Sports pundits scoffed at the fee but De Bruyne has been an utter revelation at City, scoring 65 goals and providing 105 assists in 255 appearances.
He's closing in on a third Premier League title, while he's also collected the PFA Player of the Year and the Premier League Playmaker of the Year awards as recognition for his displays.
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Recently handed a new contract until 2025 - which will take him to ten years of service at the Etihad Stadium, De Bruyne is well on course to go down as one of the best players in Premier League history.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Chelsea, Football, Kevin de Bruyne
