A fee to buy Belgian Kevin De Bruye was agreed in January 2012, but we sent him back on loan to spend the remainder of the season at his current club, Genk, before joining up with his new team mates in the Summer.
Kevin made his first team debut for Genk in a 3-0 defeat away to Charleroi in May 2009, aged 18. Kevin made a name for himself in the 2009/10 season and scored his first goal for the club in February 2010 against club rivals, Standard Liege. He scored five goals and made an impressive 16 assists in only 32 league games in this season, a season in which Genk were crowned Belgian champions. Kevin scored a hat-trick for Genk against Club Brugge which ended in a 5-4 win for Genk in October 2011, quickly becoming a fans favourite. By this time, there was very strong speculation that Kevin was being targeted by Chelsea, after playing against them in the Champions League group stage. This move happened on January deadline day 2012, although he was loaned back to Genk for the remainder of the season. The fee was believed to be in the region of £7million.
Although he was technically a Chelsea player, this didn't faze Kevin, as he still performed week in, week out for his father club. De Bruyne scored his first goal after securing his move to Chelsea in mid February against KRC Genk, as well as assisting a goal in a 2-1 victory. De Bruyne wrapped up the season by scoring on his last game for the Belgian side, finishing the season with 8 goals in 28 league , as well as 15 assists.
Although he was technically a Chelsea player, this didn't faze Kevin, as he still performed week in, week out for his father club. De Bruyne scored his first goal after securing his move to Chelsea in mid February against KRC Genk, as well as assisting a goal in a 2-1 victory. De Bruyne wrapped up the season by scoring on his last game for the Belgian side, finishing the season with 8 goals in 28 league , as well as 15 assists.
De Bruyne joined up with his new Chelsea team mates for the pre-season tour of the USA in the Summer of 2012. He was quoted on the Chelsea website saying "To come to a team like Chelsea is a dream but now I have to work hard to achieve the level necessary". On his pre-season debut for the blues, De Bruyne played 45 minutes in a 4-2 win at the Seattle Sounders, as well as playing the first half against PSG at the Yankees Stadium. Kevin impressed in both games, and linked up well with fellow Belgian Romelu Lukaku, but showed he would struggle to secure a starting role at Chelsea, with Eden Hazard and Juan Mata also in his favoured position - attacking midfielder.
There was never much question whether or not Kevin would get playing time after it was announced that he would spend a year's loan at German side, Werder Bremen. Kevin has played pretty much everywhere for Brememn, having featured as a striker, a number ten role, left wing, right wing and centre mid, before finding his favoured role as just behind the striker. Kevin has been very impressive in Germany, having scored six goals and making eight assists in 25 appearances.
Bremen lost Marko Marin in the Summer to Chelsea, but in return we gave them a better player on loan. De Bruyne has tremendous confidence on the ball for someone his age, and weaves in and out of defenders on a regular basis. His passing is also very good for his age. Kevin is pretty much an all rounder, and his abilities will only get better with the more playing time he gets.
The question is, where would he fit in at Chelsea? The answer, is all around the midfield. De Bruyne can obviously play in the attacking three midfielders, along side Juan and Eden, but having competition with Victor Moses and Oscar. However, with his combination of skills, Kevin could possibly play in the deep-lying double pivot role, with his passing, vision and shooting. I'd easily choose Kevin to play in this role over Ramires. From what I have seen of him, Kevin doesn't hesitate to defend, and takes the responsibility of defending from the front.
All in all, I'm not sure where Kevin will be next season. I would keep him at Chelsea, he may not start every game but he will surely add more depth and class into this Chelsea team. Others would argue another loan move would be beneficial, especially to the Premier League for him to get used to the English style of play, but Kevin can fit into it perfectly at the moment - and the Bundesliga is pretty similar. Without doubt, Kevin is surely one to look out for in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment