Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that he asked for training sessions at Chelsea to be made open for the public so that he could prove manager Jose Mourinho wrong.
The Portuguese was openly critical of the attacking midfielder during his first stint in English football, accusing him of lacking motivation and "crying every day" after being overlooked.
De Bruyne, who has since returned to the Premier League with Manchester City, has attempted to dismiss Mourinho's claims and admits that he wanted a chance to prove exactly how committed to the cause he was during his time at Stamford Bridge.
"It is true that he said in the press that I wasn't doing what was needed in training," he told France Football. "It was easy to say that because there was no-one to check it – the training sessions were closed to the public. But everyone knows I am not like that.
"I never let anyone put me down. I say what I have to say, with respect of course. But at that moment, I couldn't do anything because he would have said I was lying and afterwards he would have used it. Did I ask for training to be done in public? I said it, yes, but not to him personally."
De Bruyne was sold to Wolfsburg in January 2014 for a fee of £18m, 18 months before Man City splashed out three times that sum to bring him back to England.
Daniel Lewis
