Where are they now? The 5 players Chelsea let leave alongside Kevin De Bruyne in 2014
Chelsea were busy during the 2013-14 winter transfer window, letting Kevin De Bruyne and five other players leave while signing the likes of Mohamed Salah, Kurt Zouma, Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traore.
On his return to Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho had turned the Blues back into title challengers. They led in January and an excellent run of mid-season form saw them approach the run-in in pole position, only to falter and end up third behind Manchester City and Liverpool.
De Bruyne has become one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history at Manchester City, but what about the other five players that Mourinho let leave Chelsea in that window? We’ve taken a look back and checked in on where they’re at a decade later.
Juan Mata
It’s only in hindsight, with what he’d go on to achieve in a different shade of blue, that De Bruyne’s Chelsea departure has become a big deal. At the time, he was a talented youngster who never made it past the periphery.
The Belgian signing for Wolfsburg received considerably less attention than Mata going to Manchester United, a desperate big-money punt from David Moyes to kick his ailing managerial reign at Old Trafford into life.
The exceptionally technically gifted Spaniard had been one of Chelsea’s heroes of the 2012 Champions League triumph but he’d fallen out of favour under Mourinho and spent the first half of the 2013-14 campaign struggling for starts.
He was promptly sold for a mammoth fee of £37.1million but found himself unable to save Moyes’ job.
Mata ended up staying put at Old Trafford until 2022, making 150 more appearances for United than he did for Chelsea.
He arguably never quite recaptured the peak form of his short but sweet time at Chelsea, but he became a popular player with the fans and was often among their brighter sparks in the post-Ferguson wilderness years.
The 36-year-old went on to win back-to-back league titles (the first of his career) in stints with Galatasaray and Vissel Kobe, but currently finds himself a free agent.
He worked as a pundit for the BBC during Euro 2024 and you imagine a retirement announcement is imminent if he doesn’t find a new club soon.
Michael Essien
The great Ghanaian midfielder left Chelsea after nine years of service in January 2014.
Jose Mourinho had brought him to Stamford Bridge originally, and even signed him on a lesser-remembered loan at Real Madrid, but he was also the man who decided Essien’s best years were behind him.
He was allowed to leave on a free transfer to AC Milan and saw out his playing career with Panathinaikos, Indonesian side Persib Bandung and Azerbaijani outfit Sabail. A proper end-of-career list of paydays, that.
Since 2020 he’s served as assistant manager FC Nordsjaelland, the Danish club famous for bringing through youngsters from Ghana’s Right to Dream academy. Don’t be surprised if Essien is working with one of European football’s next top prospects right now.
Sam Walker
Cobham academy graduate Walker never made a senior appearance for Chelsea amid no fewer than six loans away.
After two stints at Colchester United, he signed for the League One club permanently – long before PSR and ‘pure profit’ had entered the footballing lexicon.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper went on to make over 200 appearances for the U’s and has enjoyed a respectable career in the Football League. Nowadays you can find him standing between the sticks at Bradford City.
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Jonathan Muleba
You know you’re getting into the weeds when a footballer only has a Transfermarkt page and not a Wikipedia. That tells you a thing or two about how Muleba’s career panned out.
The right-back was sold to Bournemouth for a minimal, undisclosed fee but he only ever appeared for their Under-21s. He ended up embarking on a non-league career with the likes of Enfield Town, Braintree and Kingstonian but hasn’t played since 2022.
In 2017, he founded the Impact Football Academy with former Arsenal academy player Alfred Mugabo. You can find him on LinkedIn.
Lamisha Musonda
Signed by Chelsea from Anderlecht alongside his brothers Charly, once highly-rated, and the lesser-known Tika, eldest sibling Lamisha never quite made it.
He returned to Belgium to sign for Mechelen on a free transfer and subsequently had stints with Llagostera, Palamos and Mazembe. Who? Exactly.
It’s unknown what he’s up to after his football career never worked out, but it looks like he’s living a nice life on his Instagram page.