Kevin De Bruyne might be setting the Etihad turf on fire right now, but a couple of years back, he was apparently all set to step out in front of the 80,000 odd Dortmund supporters, before Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho convinced him against it.
Back then of course, it was current Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp at the helm of affairs in Borussia Dortmund, who had just ended up as runners up to FC Bayern Munich in both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League.
a I had a personal agreement [with Klopp],a De Bruyne said to the . Daily Telegraph. a I asked the club [Chelsea] to go because I had a good feeling about Dortmund at the time.”
The 24-year-old said that Klopp had even promised to give him one of the most crucial roles in the Borussia Dortmund side that was trying to upstage the supremacy of FC Bayern Munich in Germany. In fact, Klopp had offered him the role of Mario Goetze, who had just left Borussia Dortmund for the Bavarian giants.
“I had been good in Germany and he [Klopp] really wanted me because [Mario] Gotze went to Bayern Munich,” said De Bruyne.
“He called me, and said a You will be the No 1a a at a team who had been second in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League final.
a At the time I thought it was a good decision to go but the manager [Jose Mourinho] told me a You need to stay and you will get your chance herea . I accepted it and we moved on.”
Move away from Chelsea FC was good for De Bruyne
However, the Belgian moved on to Wolfsburg half way into that season, and his career just took off from then onwards. Providing the maximum number of assists (in a season) in the Bundesliga, De Bruyne earned his big money move to Premier League giants Manchester City, who had to shell out A?55 million for the Belgian.
Since then, De Bruyne has been amazing his fans as Manchester City sit pretty on the top of the Premier League table. However, it would be interesting to see whether the Belgian can keep his place in the starting XI when Spanish playmaker David Silva returns to full fitness.