When youโre an up-and-coming 20 year old who finally gets that โbig clubโ contract, youโre juiced. Itโs the break youโve been waiting for, the time when youโre finally on the verge of stepping into the limelight and becoming a household commodity in world football. Fourteen months after signing with Chelsea, midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is still waiting for that to happen.
The Belgian international came to Stamford Bridge in January 2012 when Chelsea purchased him from Genk โ a surging feeder club that has produced the likes of Christian Benteke, Thibaut Courtois and Anthony Vanden Borre. Yet after a year in the fold, few football lovers would recognize de Bruyne if he was standing next to them at a bar sipping a shandy while wearing his Belgian kit. Thatโs because โ surprise, surprise โ immediately after signing with the Blues he was loaned back to Genk for the remainder of the spring before spending the entire 2012-13 campaign at German side Werder Bremen.
Credit to the winger, he hasnโt let the demotion effect him on the pitch. In 26 Bundesliga appearances, de Bruyne has banged home six goals and served as provider on eight occasions. Despite the heroics Bremen has struggled and sits 14th in the table, a mere 6 points from the drop zone.
de Bruyneโs football has been equally tasty on the international level where heโs scored twice and assisted twice in five World Cup Qualifying appearances. The fact that heโs accomplished this for the new darling of every footie bro (โdude, Belgianโs roster is sooo sick, definitely a dark horse to win World Cup 2014โ), only adds to the playerโs intrigue.
On Friday, it was de Bruyne who opened the scoring for the Diables Rouges in their 2-0 win over Macedonia. The blonde ambition was played the ball on the right side of the pitch, cut inside and skinned defender Alexander Lazevski before slamming a near post rip past the utterly confused Macedonia netminder, Tome Pacovski. Determined, technically precise, and full of guile, the goal was a feat to behold.
So with his stock rising on both club and international stages, de Bruyne was asked whether he still had aspirations to play at Stamford Bridge. โThatโs the reason that I signed there last year,โ he said with a pained look of obviousness and desperation.
โI want to show everyone at Chelsea that I can play there. But at the moment I donโt know what Chelsea want to do with me, so itโs difficult to say whatโs going to happen with me in the next year, or years. I have to just wait.โ
What Chelsea want to do with you, my dear Kevin, is keep you on ice. Maintain you as part of the inventory at the Stamford Bridge warehouse. Keep working hard and maybe, just maybe, youโll be recalled this summer for the pre-season firecracker against the mightyย Singha Thailand All-Star XI. Now wouldnโt that be fun?
If it sounds harsh, sorry kiddo, but this is life at Chelsea, where attacking midfielders are all the rage. The typical front three of Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Haaaaathaarrrrrrr clearly have the starting roles on lockdown. After the tiny trio, guys like Victor Moses and Marko Marin sit quietly on Rafa Benitezโ bench, frothing at the mouth to enter a match in the final three minutes and somehow impress. Making matters worse, the do-it-all Ramires is always happy to oblige in any position throughout the midfield.
Itโs a dirty game, but not one without lessons, mainly, know the โbig clubโ club youโre signing for before you go searching for that limelight.
