Chelsea loanee Kevin De Bruyne has stated his desire to return to Stamford Bridge for the 2013/14 season, but is unsure whether that is where he will be next season.
The Belgian is one of 25 players that Chelsea have on loan, having signed for the club from Genk in the January transfer window of 2011/2012, although he was immediately loaned back to Genk for the remainder of the campaign. This season he has been playing his football in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen, and believes that his time has come to play in the Premier League.
So far De Bruyne has only represented Chelsea in a pre-season tour of the US, but his performances for Werder Bremen and the international team have certainly impressed. Indeed, he has become a regular in the international set up and at the age of 21 already has 10 caps for Belgium in a very competitive squad.
He has since been linked to other clubs within the Bundesliga, yet still expresses intent and desire to play for Chelsea. When questioned about whether he still aspired to play for them, he replied “that’s the reason that I signed there last year.”
Despite hoping for a return, he admitted that he was not sure how Chelsea viewed the situation and that he was still waiting to hear from them about his chances of playing in London next season. “”I want to show everyone at Chelsea that I can play there. But at the moment I don’t know what Chelsea want to do with me, so it’s difficult to say what’s going to happen with me in the next year, or years. I have to just wait.”
De Bruyne’s natural position is as an attacking midfielder, and can play in that capacity from the centre or out wide. In that role for Werder Bremen he has managed 6 goals and 8 assists so far in 26 league appearances. If he were to return to StamfordBridge however, he would be under heavy competition to hold down a starting place as an attacking midfielder.
Chelsea currently plays with three attacking midfielders behind the striker, and those spots are most regularly occupied by Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Victor Moses and Oscar. Hazard and Mata have been particularly outstanding, the former with 8 goals and 8 assists, the latter with 10 goals and 10 assists (the only player in the Premier League to reach double figures on both accounts).
Certainly, it would be hard work breaking into such strong area of the team. De Bruyne seems to believe himself capable of achieving this though and considers his international prowess to prove that.
[quote]International (football) is also at a very high level so I think you can compare it with Chelsea because all the players in our national team also play at big clubs in England and all over the world.[/quote]
Hazard is one of those players, and De Bruyne seems keen on linking up with his international team mate. “I love to play with Eden. We’ve played together for a long time already for the national team at the same age.”
With Chelsea having such a wealth of attacking midfielders, Marko Marin not even managing to break into the side after returning from injury, it is possible that he could take on a similar role to the ones that Lampard and Ramires have played for Chelsea this season. That is a deeper box-to-box duty, and with Lampard possibly leaving in the summer, there may be room for him there. That is, though, for the club and himself to decide, and he will not know for sure where he will be next season, both in terms of club and on the pitch, until Chelsea contact him in this regard.
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