But De Bruyne insists he is Belgian through and through, denying City team-mate Vincent Kompany’s claim that England missed out on him.
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The 24-year-old Belgian worldwide move to Stamford Bridge in January 2012 but failed to make a significant impact with the club and was sold two years later.
Having come off the bench against Crystal Palace and Juventus so far Saturday could be a case of “third time lucky” for De Bruyne with a place in the starting XI against West Ham on?
“I didn’t get any explanation”, De Bruyne told the Daily Telegraph.
“I’m not somebody who talks a lot with the coach”.
“Of course I didn’t play a lot in the Premier League and hopefully I can do well now I am here, of course, but I don’t have the feeling that I have to prove something because the first period wasn’t that good“. I think that was maybe November. And then one week before January, that’s the day I said I wanted to go because even if I was training better.
Asked what his favourite position is, he responded: “My best [position] is probably attacking midfield, in the centre, but even if I play in that position I end up going out wide”.
“I think it’s the most hard thing for a player when they say you’re doing good”. “I just needed to go so that things could be better for me personally”.
“You know there is going to be a lot of pressure”.
Despite his more pragmatic approach to team selection at City than Chelsea, justifying a club record fee is a challenge which De Bruyne admits he must take on.
After ping-ponging back and forth across the Channel for the last five years, De Bruyne is happy to be back in the country where his mother Anna grew up.
I’m unsure to be honest with you, much depends on who is available from last weekends Premier League win as the City boss will, probably, look to stick as much as possible to a winning formula wouldn’t he…
“I know everyone will talk about the money”.
‘I saw bits of their game against Newcastle on Monday because we were in the team hotel and from what I saw, they played pretty well on the night.
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The Belgium global was signed by the Blues from Genk, but did not get a chance to show what he was capable of and spent most of his time on loan. De Bruyne also created a club-best 111 opportunities.
