De Bruyne: Salah and I Ieaving Chelsea were right calls
Manchester City attacker Kevin de Bruyne says he and Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah leaving Chelsea were the right decisions.
The Belgium international, 30, was signed by the Blues in January 2012 but made just three Premier League appearances before being flogged to Wolfsburg. He joined Manchester City in 2015 and has since become a two-time PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
Salah, meanwhile, only managed 13 league outings during his 13-month stint in London. After spells with Fiorentina and Roma, the 29-year-old returned to England to win two Premier League Golden Boots (one shared) and is on course to make that three this season.
“We were just two good players who didn’t play a lot,” said De Bruyne.
“We both needed to gain confidence and get game time and we had to go elsewhere to do that. Maybe it was just a coincidence. You certainly can’t compare me now to what I did then – 10 years in football is your whole life.”
On facing Liverpool on Sunday, De Bruyne said: “I feel like here are two teams fighting each other so much and both know what it takes to keep pushing and pushing and we are the only teams to have done that for the last five years.
“I like the big matches. It’s two fully attacking teams and our games this season have been entertaining. I can’t remember playing them when it’s been boring.”