Antonio Conte would love to have Kevin de Bruyne on his team-sheet at the Etihad tomorrow.
According to a report in the Evening Standard the current Chelsea boss is amazed that Jose Mourinho shipped the midfielder off to Wolfsborg for £18m.
Manchester City paid three times that figure to bring de Bruyne back to the Premier League and have been rewarded with some outstanding performances from the midfielder.
As he reshapes the Chelsea side Conte has admitted that he’d love to have had the chance to put together an all Belgian midfield pairing of de Bruyne and Eden Hazard.
“De Bruyne played with Chelsea and I think he’s a really great player,” Conte said.
“It’s a pity that now he is playing for another team, for sure because he is a fantastic player.”
Chelsea paid Genk £7m for de Bruyne in January 2012 and made an £11m profit when he was sold to Wolfsborg.
Tomorrow Chelsea visit the Etihad for a lunchtime kick off looking to externd their seven match winning run and their one point advantage over Pep Guardiola’s side. Second placed Liverpool will be hoping to cash in with a win at Bournemouth whatever the outcome is in the battle of the blues.