Finally we have the end of the Kevin de Bruyne saga: He's staying at Stamford Bridge. Logic dictated that Chelsea would refrain from selling him unless for a princely sum -- they have him under contract for another four seasons, they liked him enough to buy him in January 2012 and he's only gotten better since, transforming himself into one of Europe's top prospects -- but now we have quotes. And not from Michael Zorc this time:
Kevin De Bruyne decided to stay at #CFC after a new phone call with #Mourinho. He rejected the offer to sign for 5y at #BVB. #HLN (1/2)
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) June 21, 2013
Agent Patrick De Koster in #HLN: "#Mourinho convinced Kevin to stay. He likes his versatility and wants to make him better." #CFC (2/2)
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) June 21, 2013
Everyone a little bit calmer after that? Good. (Also, hurray Mourinho). De Bruyne staying gives Chelsea yet another exciting talent to rotate across the attacking band/experiment with in central midfield, and he'll almost certainly get enough time to impress. His battle against Oscar, who's the closest analogue on the squad, should be pretty interesting, but with the number of games the Blues play it's not hard to figure out a way for both to coexist.
Remember how young players weren't going to get along with Mourinho? He's already convinced both Romelu Lukaku and de Bruyne to stick around, and we can expect him not to go back on any promises he's made to them. If he sees the current Chelsea job as building a dynasty rather than a quick fix, integrating the wealth of talent the squad possesses into the first team is going to be hugely important. Sounds like he's embracing the challenge.