Jose Mourinho 'begged Chelsea not to sell Kevin De Bruyne'

Belgian playmaker De Bruyne signed for Manchester City from Wolfsburg for £55 million in the summer transfer window, and has already begun to justify the faith shown in him with some crucial goals and assists in huge games.

Indeed, the 24-year-old was hailed this week as a bargain, despite being the second-most expensive players in Premier League history.

[ANALYSIS: Is Kevin De Bruyne already a £54m bargain?]

And it seems that if Mourinho had his way, De Bruyne would be plying his trade for Chelsea instead of title rivals City.

Belgian football writer Kristof Terreur, Premier League correspondent for Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, made the claim in response to an article by Paul Hayward describing the loss of De Bruyne as Mourinho's biggest-ever mistake.

Chelsea bought De Bruyne in January 2012 for around £7m from Genk, one of a number of talented young players who the Blues have had on their books in recent seasons.

Almost all have been loaned out, then brought back to Chelsea once they have proven themselves - like Thibaut Courtois - or else sold on, invariably at a healthy profit, as was the case with De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Daniel Sturridge.

Our columnist Thore Haugstad explained the policy in detail earlier this year, hailing Chelsea's cleverness at coming up with a policy which helped them beat FFP restrictions.

Yet there is no doubt that it's a strategy which has seen a number of as-yet-unpolished gems leave Chelsea before they have had a chance to shine.

While Mourinho has been blamed for this at times - De Bruyne himself said recently he "hadn't a clue" why Chelsea had sold him - Terreur's words suggest that the decision was taken out of Mourinho's hands.

Yet the Chelsea manager himself made it pretty clear at the time, lamenting De Bruyne's refusal to fight for a place: "He was not training very well and he was saying, 'I can't give you more - this is just my way'. So yes, I accept that if this is his mentality and it's his choice to go, it is better for Chelsea to make a good deal."

Trying to get good players is straightforward. But trying to get great players? That's a curious mix of gambling, alchemy, nous and luck. Manchester United spent £60 million on Angel di Maria just after he was man of the match in the Champions League final and one late strike away from potentially winning the World Cup, but he didn't work out; Manchester City spent just over half that on Sergio Aguero three years beforehand, and he has unarguably matured into one of the top five goalscorers on the planet. Even more strikingly, Manchester United neglected Paul Pogba to the extent that he ran down his contract and left; he is now one of the best midfielders in the world.

So sure, with De Bruyne it looks like Chelsea have come out on the wrong side of the equations. But that's hardly a cause to point fingers, regardless of who made the decision; it's just business as usual.