2. Kevin De Bruyne (from VfL Wolfsburg to Manchester City 2015/2016) – €74 million
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When Kevin De Bruyne left Chelsea in 2013/2014, it was touted as a brilliant piece of business for the London club. Another one of their under-par loan stars had wound up being sold on for a profit, to continue an increasingly obscure career elsewhere.
His sale partly contributed to Mourinho’s 2014/2015 title win coming along with a transfer profit – the first of its kind. For the player who had made the first assist of Mourinho’s long-awaited return to Chelsea, it was an ignominious end to a transfer he thought would yield so much. Vfl Wolfsburg of the Bundesliga, welcomed him back to Germany with open arms in the winter window. If everyone thought it was a goodbye, they were very wrong.
The 2014/2015 season started splendidly for the young Belgian, as he immediately paid his new club back for their sizeable €21million outlay. Playing in the middle of the park as opposed to the attacking or wide midfield positions he’d occupied at Chelsea, De Bruyne reminded everyone why he was so well-known around the planet.
He split his duties as a central midfielder who controlled play and spread passes around with some brilliant box-to-box abilities, covering ground and laying on deadly contributions in the final third. He finished the season with 16 goals and 27 assists, becoming the Bundesliga’s answer to Yaya Toure. Ironically, it was his club that came calling, outrageously bidding €55 million for the jewel in Wolfsburg’s crown. They refused. City upped the ante, offering €59 million.
Still, Wolfsburg held out, despite De Bruyne beginning to show his desire to leave. Finally, City bid €74 million, which the Germans could not refuse. A private jet was sent to pick the Bundesliga Footballer of the Year up. He’d left England through the back-door, but he was now back as the league second-most expensive player – what an incredible rise!
If anyone thought it wasn't money well-spent, De Bruyne emphatically answered them. For a man who has been proving his critics wrong for years, it was absolutely no big deal. As his old club Chelsea floundered and failed to defend their title, De Bruyne spearheaded Pellegrini’s assault on the very same.
A series of virtuoso performances made him Pellegrini’s flashiest player – continuous top-notch games made him an unshakeable member of their squad. When Silva, Kompany, and Toure suffered injuries, he was the one who kept the side in the title hunt. By January, he had struck 10 goals and laid on a similar number.
Unfortunately, injury struck at that very moment and he was sidelined for 2 months. City’s quadruple challenge fell by the wayside, and they slid out of the title race and domestic cups. By the time he came back, the Citizens had only the UCL to fight for and his brilliant goal against PSG sent them to the semi-finals where they lost to winners Real Madrid.
A clash at Stamford Bridge gave him another reason to fight. For Kevin De Bruyne, it was the perfect chance to show his old employees how silly they’d been. Aguero scored a hat-trick to kill them in their own ground, but De Bruyne was the star of the match. He finished the season with 16 goals and more than 10 assists.
