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Borussia Dortmund CEO claims Chelsea refused to sell them De Bruyne

Fabian Bimmer / Reuters

Borussia Dortmund's attempt to sign Kevin De Bruyne from Chelsea in 2014 was a complete waste of time. And it's all because Chelsea held a grudge.

The Premier League club was unwilling to consider the German club as a possible destination for their young Belgian midfielder, according to Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, after feeling slighted when they missed out on Robert Lewandowski, who ended up signing with Bayern Munich.

“It (signing De Bruyne) would have fitted well into the planning,” he told German publication Bild (courtesy NBC Sports).

“But the conditions could not be agreed. Chelsea were unwilling to let him go because they were angry that Robert Lewandowski had not gone to Chelsea.”

In the end, Wolfsburg was the ultimate beneficiary of the squabble between the two teams as De Bruyne has gone on to become one of the Bundesliga's top players. He has almost double the amount of assists as the next best provider in the German league with 20 helpers.

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