Chelsea scout Piet de Visser has admitted he was angry when Jose Mourinho allowed Kevin de Bruyne to leave the club.
The Belgian midfielder only played nine times for the Blues before he was sold to Wolfsburg in January 2014.
But De Bruyne was a revelation in the Bundesliga and has arguably been Manchester City's best player since arriving at the Etihad Stadium for £55million in the summer.
Jose Mourinho did not believe De Bruyne was ready to play for Chelsea in 2014, according to Piet de Visser
The 24-year-old's success has led many to question Mourinho's decision to let him leave Stamford Bridge, but De Visser said the Portuguese boss told him De Bruyne didn't want to play under him.
'I was angry with Mourinho when De Bruyne left Chelsea,' De Visser told HLN Sport. 'We had some discussions. Then he would say: "Piet, I find it a shame too, but the boy wants to leave. He doesn't want to train under me anymore."
'I told him: "Yes, the boy wants to play. He's ready for it." I have tried to convince him of Kevin's qualities. But then Mourinho repeated: "Piet, he doesn't want to train."
De Bruyne was brought to Chelsea from Genk by Andre Villas Boas in January 2012, but was sent on loan to Werder Bremen the following season by Roberto Di Matteo.
The Belgian scored 10 Bundesliga goals in the 2012-13 season, but when he returned to Chelsea Jose Mourinho was in charge and the young midfielder was competing with the likes of Frank Lampard, Oscar and Eden Hazard for his place in the team.
Nevertheless De Visser, who helped bring Brazilian greats Romario and Ronaldo to Europe, believed he was good enough to play - but he says the manager disagreed.
'I went to see a training session,' De Visser said. 'Kevin was the best player on the pitch. Look, Mourinho is a performance focused manager who has achieved a lot in his career. He wants to work with fully developed players.
'He thought Kevin needed one, maybe two years. But Kevin was ready. And Kevin was convinced he was ready too.'
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