TheSportsCampus

The much anticipated transfer of Genk winger Kevin De Bruyne to Chelsea has finally been completed. A statement on Genk’s website read, “The transfer of Kevin De Bruyne to Chelsea has been completed. The player has signed a five and a half year long contract with the English club and will remain at Genk till June.”

The statement also added, “Genk will hold a press conference with (director) Jacob Gunther and Dirk Degraen in which they will clarify the transfer policy. Afterwards, Kevin De Bruyne will also give an explanation about his transfer to the English club."

The fee taking the player to Stamford Bridge is rumoured to be around the £7m mark and he is the third Belgian to join Chelsea in recent memory after Thibaut Courtois and Romelu Lukaku. This is Chelsea’s second big signing of the winter transfer window, after they had secured the transfer of defender Gary Cahill from Bolton earlier.

Speaking to Chelsea’s website, the youngster said, “Yes, it's a little bit of a dream come true. I've worked very hard and am still very young but have already played a lot of games. To come to a team like Chelsea is a dream but now it's a reality and I have to work hard to achieve the level that's necessary.”

He added, “I signed now and now I will go back for six months on loan to play some games and gain more experience. Next season it would be normal to be loaned out, but I will start the preparations here at Cobham, and if it goes really well maybe I will stay but probably it will be a team a little level less than Chelsea but bigger than Genk.”

De Bruyne had long been linked with a move to Chelsea and is generally thought of as a player whom the club wanted to sign and not the manager. In fact Andre Villas-Boas even admitted that the winger was not his choice and was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying, “He is a player the club have scouted for some time and I am a manager who respects club policy. A club have to look to the future whether it's with this manager or another. He's a good bet for the future. I will do everything in my power for him to reach maximum potential.”

De Bruyne started his senior career with Genk in the year 2008 and has made 79 appearances so far, scoring 24 goals in the process. The highly rated 20-year old usually operates on the left wing, but is also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder.

Although it is not certain where Villas-Boas would choose to field him, it is widely believed that the Portuguese manager wants to give Juan Mata a more central role, thereby allowing De Bruyne to slot into the wide position. The Belgian is blessed with pace and that will help Chelsea, as they seem to be lacking in that respect this season.

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