Kevin de Bruyne forced to train with Chelsea Under-21s following poor performance

Chelsea attacking midfielder Kevin de
Bruyne has been dropped from the
Chelsea first-team squad after Jose
Mourinho fumed following his
unimpressive performance in the Capital
One Cup victory over Swindon last week.
De Bruyne had started the season in
favour following Mourinho’s return to
Stamford Bridge, but having impressed
in pre-season and the season opening
victory over Hull City, he has slipped out
of favour and is likely not to travel to
Romania for the Blues’ Champions
League match against Steaua Bucharest.
The Belgian has been told to train with
the Under-21 squad for the next three
days, and de Bruyne is believed to be
deeply unhappy with his treatment
having been left out of the match-day
squad for the London derby against
Tottenham on Saturday.
The 22-year-old had a successful loan-
spell when he spent last season with
Werder Bremen, although he rejected a
return to Germany after Mourinho
convinced him he featured in his Chelsea
future.
Champions League runners-up Borussia
Dortmund were interested in signing de
Bruyne, but having begun the Premier
League ahead of two-time club player of
the year Juan Mata, the Belgium
international appeared to be a rare
young breakthrough into the Chelsea
squad.
But his future with the Blues has now
been thrown into doubt and with next
summer’s World Cup creeping to the
forefront of players’ minds, de Bruyne
could consider another loan-move in
January to try and cement his place in in
the national squad.
Mourinho had criticised de Bruyne for
his performance last Tuesday. Asked if
he was pleased with what he saw,
Mourinho replied: “not so much.
“The next time Kevin is on the pitch, he
has to think he’s playing for his next
appearance. At Werder Bremen [on loan
last season] he played every game. Here
he’s not playing every game. In Bremen
he didn’t need to prove himself so much.
This is a different reality. He’s competing
against very good players, so every
minute he’s on the pitch he has to work
really hard.”
But de Bruyne had appeared to be
determined to fight for his place,
admitting that he had managed it in his
recent years with Genk and Bremen.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with
The Independent’s Sam Wallace, de
Bruyne said: “I am a fighter. I learned it
at Genk in my first year when we were
fighting against going down. Also at
Bremen last year it was very difficult. We
had to fight more often than not. I will
fight again to earn my place.
“There were some teams interested in
buying me but the manager [Mourinho]
said he wanted me to stay. If he wants me
to stay I cannot say anything. I just have
to show everybody here that I can play
football and I can help the team.
“It was maybe a little bit of a temptation.
Dortmund is a big club and I really liked
the league there. I was doing well and
physically I was feeling good but I didn’t
make any problems when the manager
said you have to stay here. I just said OK,
and I will work.”