Why Kevin De Bruyne would have been the ideal fit for Antonio Conte's new Chelsea system

More than most, Chelsea can testify to the problems of acting in haste and repenting at leisure. It is almost three years since they acceded to Kevin de Bruyne’s wish to leave. A club who tend to loan out dozens of players made a permanent break, selling him to Wolfsburg in January 2014. It seemed a fine bit of business, bringing in £18 million for a footballer who had cost just £7 million, who had played just 132 minutes of Premier League football and who had never scored for Chelsea.

Then De Bruyne’s career took off at Wolfsburg, sparking a three-way tug of war between Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. He became the most expensive player ever sold by a German club when City forked out £54.5 million for him, was the Bundesliga’s player of the year and, but for an ill-timed injury, may have added the equivalent honours in England last season. Losing De Bruyne, albeit an unsettled De Bruyne who wanted first-team football rather than a status as a squad player, looked arguably Jose Mourinho’s biggest mistake.

Now it might appear Chelsea have finally got closure. They are top of the league, ending their 18-month exile in the lower reaches of the table. Eden Hazard is belatedly underlining why he seemed the shiniest star in Belgium’s golden generation. Pedro is finally producing reminders of why he was so successful for Barcelona. Saturday’s reunion with De Bruyne might not be tinged with regret after all.

Yet arguably it should be exacerbated. Chelsea have been in sublime form. Antonio Conte has illustrated prowess as a coach and man-manager by getting the maximum from underachievers. He has shown his powers of organisation and imagination by reconfiguring his side.

But the probability is that De Bruyne would be perfect for his new-look formation. Pedro’s recent record is remarkable, with three goals and four assists in his last six league games, but De Bruyne has sustained excellence for longer. He has created the most goals in the Premier League this season. His 59-game City career has produced 19 goals and 21 assists.

Some have come in systems where he has had more defensive duties, either as a winger who had to track back or as a central midfielder who, with only one holding player behind him, was required to help out in his own half. The brilliance of Conte’s shape lies in the way it liberates two creative players, giving them licence to attack without the constraints of responsibility. No other tactic currently being employed in the Premier League grants that luxury.

De Bruyne coined the term “free eight” to explain how Pep Guardiola was deploying him earlier in the season. Conte has two “free 10s”, given more advanced roles and thus greater chances of contributing directly to goals. The idea of pairing him with Hazard is not purely hypothetical: Roberto Martinez pre-empted Conte’s switch to 3-4-2-1 by making the same move sooner with a Belgium team who had also appeared addicted to 4-2-3-1 and who had grown stagnant in the process.

De Bruyne has the capacity to operate as one of twin inside-forwards, complementing Hazard but with his differences, his more direct running, his greater willingness to shoot, adding another aspect.

Yet Martinez’s typically bold selection for Belgium’s 8-1 win over Estonia opened up another possibility. De Bruyne played as one of the two central midfielders behind Hazard and Dries Mertens, allowing him to begin his driving runs from deeper positions.

It may have simply been a way of cramming in another attacker against inferior opposition but it is worth remembering Conte spent some of the summer pursuing Radja Nainggolan, another Belgian who brings running power to the centre of the pitch. The Roma player is a more conventional central midfielder than De Bruyne but it is intriguing to wonder if, with the protection afforded by three centre-backs, two wing-backs and N’Golo Kante, he could have flourished at the heart of Conte’s side.

Instead, the only evidence Chelsea have is of those two league starts, against Hull and Manchester United in August 2013. They have had the best part of three years to rue Mourinho’s preference for Oscar as his No. 10, rather than De Bruyne or Juan Mata. It was a defensive choice, highlighting that Hazard was the only attack-minded player excused some defensive tasks.

Yet it came at a creative cost. Since the summer of 2013, when De Bruyne linked up with Chelsea after his loan spell at Werder Bremen, Oscar has played 97 league games. He has only scored 17 goals and only made 14. He will be a bit-part player at best on Saturday, De Bruyne a pivotal figure. Chelsea may yet be able to nullify the one who got away, but that should not quell thoughts that he would have been ideal for Conte and, in particular, in his system.