Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah saw their Chelsea careers cut short due to a 'personality clash' with then-boss Jose Mourinho, former head of their loan department Eddie Newton reveals.
De Bruyne, now one of the best playmakers in the world at Manchester City, and Salah, established as one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, are two of the high-profile casualties from Chelsea's huge loan scheme.
Both slipped through the net of the first team and were eventually sold off before maximising their ability elsewhere.
Kevin De Bruyne's (right) Chelsea future came down to a 'personality clash' with Jose Mourinho
Former head of the loan department Eddie Newton (right) says the same issue hurt Mo Salah
For Newton, who helped create the department that monitors the progress of the club's young players out on loan, the situations of De Bruyne and Salah did not come down to talent.
'I think Salah and De Bruyne wasn't about talent,' Newton told Goal.
'It was a personality clash [with Jose Mourinho]. I just didn't think it was working at the time.'
Salah made the move to south-west London following an impressive two years in Switzerland with Basel for a fee reported to be near £11million.
Prior to being shipped out on loan to Fiorentina in Italy - having made just three appearances in the Premier League - Mourinho publicly criticised the Egyptian following a League Cup game against Shrewsbury Town.
De Bruyne (left) and Salah (right) have since gone on to become world class talents in England
Salah was among a number of changes with fringe players given the chance to impress but he struggled, as did many, in a 2-1 win and Mourinho said his next selection was 'easy'.
From there he never worked his way back in as he went to Fiorentina, thrived, before going on to be loaned to Roma before making that move permanent.
De Bruyne joined two years prior to Salah following a breakthrough start to his career back in his native Belgium with Genk.
Just 20 at the time, De Bruyne finished the 2011-12 season with Genk before being immediately loaned to Werder Bremen in Germany for the 2012-13 season.
He impressed in Germany and was told he would be in Mourinho's
