Chelsea once wielded a bright young star from Belgium in their youth ranks, offering the starlet a pathway to prominence after signing him from Genk before eventually deeming his capabilities lay best elsewhere and cashing in.

That youngster was none other than Kevin De Bruyne, who forged a name for himself in Germany following the stuttering maiden period of his professional at Cobham, plundering 20 goals and 37 assists from 73 outings, announcing himself as one of Europe's most formidable creative forces and consequently earning a move that would define his career as indeed a playmaker of supreme ability.

Receiving €20m (£17.8m) from German outfit VFL Wolfsburg in 2014, Chelsea sold the ace after he had failed to establish himself as a regular presence in west London, but the Premier League was certainly not finished with this creative outlet.

Indeed, Manchester City raised plenty of eyebrows when they signed the star for a then club-record £55m in 2015 - and the rest, as they say, was history.

Having cemented his role as the central talisman in Pep Guardiola's esteemed Cityzen system, De Bruyne has recorded a remarkable 227 direct goal contributions from 335 appearances in City colours, winning four Premier League trophies, the FA Cup and five Carabao Cups - as well as being bestowed the honour of City's Player of the Year on two occasions.

This season alone, the "Rolls-Royce" of a midfielder, as lauded by Fox's Keith Costigan, has supplied no less than 17 assists across all competitions from just 28 appearances across all competitions, just seven behind his record of 24 assists across all competitions in the 2020/21 season.

The 97-cap international is now valued at £45m by the CIES Football Observatory, and at 31 years old he still has plenty left to offer, ranking incredibly well among positional peers across a plethora of metrics.

Indeed, as per FBref, De Bruyne ranks among the top 1% of midfielders for rate of goals, assists and shot-creating actions, also among the top 1% for progressive carries and the top 5% for progressive carries.

His irreplaceable stature at the beating heart of the Etihad Stadium has left him truly considered as one of the greatest players in the world, a figure of unmatched passing prowess and inexplicably fine-tuned vision.

Manager Guardiola once heralded him as "outstanding", and he truly is one of the most dynamic and naturally gifted phenoms to ever grace English soil; Chelsea must rue the day he left west London.

Since De Bruyne's departure from Stamford Bridge back in January 2014, the club has not quite found another player in the Belgian's mould, a creative and central playmaker with an emphasis on enhancing the collective effort of his team, and they will surely be crying out for their former gem right now, languishing in ninth place in the English top-flight.

Chelsea have certainly enjoyed their fair share of success since the 31-year-old Belgian technician's departure, but one can only imagine the incredible creative flair that could have been firmly embedded into the Stamford Bridge core had he been provided more time to nurture and develop his skills.

He is one of his generation's finest players, one of the great Premier League midfielders, and Chelsea let him slip away, like sand through their fingers...