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Kevin De Bruyne's long expected transfer to Wolfsburg is finally official, according to the club. De Bruyne will join up with his new squad for training tomorrow, and begin the next chapter of his career.
De Bruyne was officially a Chelsea player for almost exactly two years, though we were heavily linked to the Belgian for about a year before we actually signed him. He spent the first season and a half of his Chelsea career on loan, and played well enough in that time for Chelsea to potentially triple their initial investment in the player.
Unfortunately, De Bruyne's game didn't have the sort of balance that Jose Mourinho expects from the majority of his squad. While he's a gifted offensive player, he was never overly likely to develop to the point where he passed Eden Hazard on the depth chart. It seems unlikely that he'd have ever become a regular starter here without substantial improvement to the defensive side of his game -- and, perhaps, his attitude in training.
We wish Kevin all the best, and hopefully he manages to round out his game with regular playing time at Wolfsburg. After adding Junior Malanda during this window as well, that's starting to look like a squad that could legitimately challenge for a place in the Champions League. Have fun in Germany Kevin, and we'll be watching you this summer in Brazil.
