Chelsea have a history of signing youngsters who show great promise and then loaning them out to other clubs to help build experience. However, not many players make the step up despite possessing the talents to make it big and end up leaving the club, whereas some do not have the mettle to shine in the big stage. And then there are a few who do make it to the first team picture but struggle to get regular playing time due to which they part ways with the club.
Here we look at three such players, who joined Chelsea with great promise but ended up moving away from the club and then went on to become huge stars:
1. Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne was a talented youngster when Chelsea brought him into the fold in recent times. The Belgian joined Chelsea in January 2012 from Belgian side Genk, but continued at the same club till the end of the season. De Bruyne then went on another loan spell to German club Werder Bremen for an entire season in 2012-13. De Bruyne enjoyed a largely successful season with the German team, where he scored 10 times and assisted 9 goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances.
Following the loan spell, he returned to Chelsea to play for the Blues first team, but he wasn’t afforded the playing time he sought under Jose Mourinho and eventually ended up leaving in January 2014 to join German team Wolfsburg. The then 23-year old had a decent half season with Wolfsburg, scoring three times and assisting 6 more strikes. However, he took the game to another level in 2014-15, taking the Bundesliga by storm as he finished with 10 goals and a whopping 20 assists in 34 appearances.
His prolific form earned him a big money move back to the Premier League where he joined Manchester City where he has developed into one of the finest attacking players in the game. He enjoyed a stellar first season scoring 7 and assisting 9 goals in the Premier League and has continued in the same vein of form this term as well having already matched his assists tally from last season and scored twice. De Bruyne has developed into a key player for City and Chelsea would definitely be ruing their decision to sell the Belgian.