EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea let Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne leave Stamford Bridge long before they reached their peak.
Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne both slipped through Chelsea's fingertips (Image: Getty)
Chelsea have endured their fair share of transfer howlers over the years. Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne were both sold by senior Stamford Bridge figures before going on to become two of the Premier League era's true greats.
Blues fans are still forced to watch on in agony while Salah, who made only 13 league appearances for the club, tears teams apart with Liverpool. The Egyptian has not finished any of his seven campaigns on Merseyside with fewer than 18 Prem goals and boasts one of the best strike rates in the competition's history.
De Bruyne, who played only nine games for Chelsea, inspires the same sense of regret while pulling the strings for reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
Neither player showed, during their time at Stamford Bridge, that they would go on to become modern heavyweights of the game. Chelsea newcomer Jadon Sancho will hope that, like Salah and De Bruyne, his career will take off after moving to pastures new.
With the winger making an electric start to his loan move from Manchester United, which will become permanent by obligation next summer, Chelsea could flip the script of their past transfer failures and make the Red Devils regret letting go of a top talent.
Premier League legend Michael Owen believes that a change of manager can sometimes be all a player needs to unlock their full potential.
"Some players play better under some managers in different teams," Owen told Express Sport, in association with AceOdds. "We've seen it loads of times. We've seen some of the great players not work out at certain teams. You look at someone like De Bruyne and Salah now, two of the best players in the Premier League.
"Well, they were sold by Chelsea at some point. They certainly weren't this good back then and the managers in the club at the time didn't foresee them being this good back then, otherwise they wouldn't have sold them.
"Sancho going to another top club was a great move for him, under a manager [Enzo Maresca] who likes him and knows him. As I say, there's no point having a huge asset sat on your bench or even sat in the stands, so you might as well sell him if that's the case.
"So it was probably a good move for everybody in the end. Sancho had plenty of chances with Manchester United. With the manager [Erik ten Hag] staying and that bit of friction between the manager and the player, then it might have been a wise move for all concerned."
They're glamorous, dressed to the nines and living a lifestyle most of us could only dream of.Cole Palmer went red carpet official with his girlfriend at GQ's Men of the Year awards this weekIt might be tempting to assume that to these women, who are dating and married to multi-millionaires, money is no object. But, in some cases, that's not true. In fact, a number of England WAGs are independent ...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Arsenal 3-0 Nottm Forest Leicester 1-2 Chelsea Pray for City! Club football is back Harry Kane recreated the Bundesliga logo When you order Jack Grealish on Wish This Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Justtoonit, FootballLaughss, PL__OOC)...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. The reason why Man City lost 5 matches in a row Erling Haaland lol Cucuruku Cook that thing… This The Man United cycle. This Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Justtoonit, originaltrollfootball, FootballLaughss, PL__OOC)...
The Portuguese has promised to not sign any Sporting CP stars in the winter window.However, all bets are off in the summer, with A Bola stating that Geovany Quenda is the main target.United are said to be preparing an offer of £50M plus bonuses to secure the young winger.Amorim can use Quenda in either wing-back position, while he is also capable of playing in the front three.Another player U...
The Algerian's contract expires in the summer of 2026 and he is believed to be eyeing a move away from Molineux.Rayan Ait-Nouri is wanted by Man UtdThat has put United are on red alert for a player as Amorim has made signing a left-back a priority.He wants to boost his options give Luke Shaw's injury record.Shaw could also eventually move into the back-three once the former Sporting Lisbon manager...
Mohamed Salah has said he is yet to receive a formal contract offer from Liverpool, adding that he is "more out than in" regarding whether he will stay at the club next season.Salah, whose contract is set to expire next summer, has enjoyed an impressive individual campaign, having scored 12 goals in all competitions this term, including a brace in Liverpool's 3-2 comeback win over Southampton on S...
Real Madrid monitoring Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite🚨👀 #Branthwaite is attracting the attention of 🇪🇺 top clubs.📃 #RealMadrid included the CB in their list of potential January targets, while 🏴 teams continue to monitor him ahead of June.💰 #Everton would like to keep him but are also open to evaluating bids >€70m. 🐓⚽ pic.twitter.com/5lpoomMdyp— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) Novem...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. EPL Week 12 Ipswich 1-1 Man Utd Southampton 2-3 Liverpool LOL OUCH Cristiano Ronaldo now has 500 more Goals than Henry When a taxi driver asked Messi to take photo of him with Mascherano... Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Just toon it, trollfootball, The Football Arena, AZR Organization)...
Leicester City open talks with Van Nistelrooy over head coach job🚨🗣️ #Leicester have approached Ruud #vanNistelrooy to explore the negotiation margins to replace Steve Cooper on their bench.📃 David #Moyes and other names are under evaluation, but #LCFC would like to convince the 🇳🇱 manager as a priority. 🐓⚽ #Transfers pic.twitter.com/xsz3TT9q7P— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) November 24, 2024H...
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe was happy scoring in their win at Leganes.Real won 3-0 on Sunday, with Mbappe opening the scoring on the night.He later told RMTV: "I started well, with rhythm with my teammates, in a different position. As I said the first day I arrived here, I can play in many different positions and I will play to give my best, it is the story of my career, I play on the right,...
- 1 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 2 Ex-Prem ace asked Liverpool star for his sister's phone number
- 3 Chloe Kelly sends fans wild in daring outfit at GQ Men of the Year
- 4 Daily Laugh - Antony and his latest ManUtd session
- 5 Mascherano nears Miami; Martino exits
- 6 €60-70m could bring star to Liverpool or Man Utd
- 7 Chelsea make Nkunku sale call amid ManUtd interest
- 8 Mia Khalifa slams rumours of 'affair with ex-Prem star Julian Alvarez'
- 9 Amorim targets Sporting Lisbon's Quenda
- 10 Thierry Henry poses with rarely-seen partner Andrea on red carpet