Kevin de Bruyne has opened up about his tumultuous time under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, noting he lost patience with the Portuguese.
The Belgian begun the 2013/14 season well under Mourinho but quickly found himself miles away from the squad before eventually joining Wolfsburg, where he morphed into one of the Bundesliga’s finest.
He joined Manchester City in 2016 and played a fundamental role in their romping title success last season, alongside performing well for Belgium at the World Cup.
Speaking on his club’s new Amazon Prime documentary, De Bruyne spoke of the way he lost patience with the way he was treated by the boss.
“I was only 20 years old when I decided to sign for Chelsea, and I got my chances in the first few games and I thought, okay, things are going well, I play okay, we won the games,” he said.
“But then one day it stopped. Knowing me, I had not a lot of patience at the time, I decided to go in January.”
The provocative nature of Mourinho’s character is well documented. The 55-year-old deals less in micromanaging his players but more creating a particular mood – one geared towards focus and ruthlessness and winning.
Some players, like Willian and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, love that approach. Others, like De Bruyne and recently Anthony Martial, find it pretty loathsome.
Sometimes Mourinho blows hot with players. At other times he blows cold. Ultimately, though, no successful manager is capable of keeping every player happy.