Ginger-haired wide man will now seek to quit the Blues in the January transfer window.
Chelsea midfield player Kevin De Bruyne’s future at Stamford Bridge looks in grave doubt after the young Belgium was left out of the west London club’s Uefa Champions League squad for their match against Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday, according to reports in the Metro.
The promising 22-year-old was brought back to Stamford Bridge this season from a loan spell at Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen by returning head coach Jose Mourinho, with the self-styled ‘Special One’ promising De Bruyne that he would be part of his first-team plans at the Blues going forward.
The Belgium international had been wanted this campaign by both Bremen and last season’s Uefa Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund, however, he opted instead to return to the capital to play under the Portuguese.
However, despite starting Chelsea’s opening Premier League game of the new campaign against newly promoted Hull City at Stamford Bridge, as well as the club’s trip to face champions Manchester United at Old Trafford last month, since then De Bruyne has barely been seen in a Blues shirt.
And now the attacking midfield player has also been left behind for the club’s crucial visit to the Romanian capital to take on champions Steaua in a must-not-lose Champions League group fixture, with De Bruyne instead being made to train with the Chelsea Under-21s instead as questions begin to be asked about the player’s future at the Bridge.