Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne claims he would have been given more time at Chelsea if he had arrived for a big transfer fee.

The Belgian signed for the Blues in a £7million deal from Genk in 2012 but departed for Wolfsburg less than two years later having made just a handful of starts.

He became a star in the Bundesliga last season and his huge success in Germany convinced big-spending City to splash out an eye-watering £55million for his services.

De Bruyne has quickly become a key player for the Manchester club and believes he could have made the same impact at Chelsea if circumstances had been different at Stamford Bridge.

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He said: "It makes a huge difference [whether a club paid a lot of money for you]. I would have played more at Chelsea had they paid as much for me as City did. That's the way things work in this business."

Manuel Pellegrini’s side are contenders for the Premier League title this season while Chelsea find themselves at the wrong end of the table following a disastrous first half of the campaign.

De Bruyne has settled quickly in Manchester and took a swipe at the west Londoners by claiming the dressing room at the Bridge wasn’t always a harmonious environment.

He added: "Everything has gone really well for me. It normally takes a bit of time to adapt to your new surroundings, but I immediately got to play a lot due to injuries and that sped things up a bit.

De Bruyne was unwilling to compete for his place at Chelsea
Frustrated: Jose Mourinho said De Bruyne was unwilling to compete for his place at Chelsea

"The Premier League title is one of our main objectives. Most of my team-mates have already won the league before with City, but not me.

"The Champions League is something else. Anything can happen there. The Premier League title is the result of consistent performances.

"It's great to play for an attacking team like City. It gives me more space. If I didn't play well at Wolfsburg, the team struggled as well. That's not the case here at City.

"We have a lot of stars, but everyone acts normal. There are no groups within the team, we all get along very well. It's hard to compare this group to that of Chelsea. Maybe we are more united."

Chelsea return to action tomorrow afternoon when they travel to Selhurst Park for a London derby meeting with Crystal Palace.

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