Kevin De Bruyne was one of the shining stars of the Premier League last season, cementing his place as one of the world's finest attacking talents and he's once again proved his worth at the World Cup.
The Belgian has been worth every penny of the £50m Manchester City paid Wolfsburg for his services and the scout who brought him to the attention of Chelsea has revealed what he told Roman Abramovich when the Blues' owner decided to buy the then Genk wonderkid.
Piet de Visser recommended De Bruyne to the Blues in 2012 and, after seeing a tape of the youngster in action, Abramovich immediately informed his scouts that De Bruyne had to be signed.
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Nine million euros later and one of the most promising playmakers in European football had arrived at Stamford Bridge, but his talents would be seldom displayed and, two years later, Jose Mourinho deemed him surplus to requirements and off to Wolfsburg he went.
Now, four years later, De Bruyne has returned to Stamford Bridge on numerous occasions as one of the world's greatest players, having fired City to another Premier League title and undoubtedly leaving Abramovich wondering why on Earth a player of such immense talent was allowed to leave his club in the first place.
"One of the best players I've scouted, is Kevin De Bruyne . About six years ago I was for a while in Belgium to look around, because then already got some talent. Especially regular at Racing Genk, because the club had very good childhood. I saw De Bruyne for the first time.
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"I had to take action, I plucked up courage and took a tape to the big boss of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich. Roman is a true football fan, who wants to not only win, but also want to see good football. He looked at that tape, said nothing, but went straight to call the scouting. "That De Bruyne has to come," he said. If the big boss looks down at you, then that is of course a fantastic entry."
"Chelsea decided in early 2012 to take him anyway and paid around nine million euros. That was a lot of money for a young footballer, but in the meantime there were a lot of clubs after him. I told Abramovich that De Bruyne would end up being worth tenfold and that's true today."
Given De Bruyne's importance to City this season, it's hard to disagree with de Visser's valuation of him. Will the former Chelsea man come back to haunt his former club, today?
Topics: Football News, Belgium, Football, Kevin de Bruyne, World Cup
