Chelsea won't see prospective signing Kevin de Bruyne until next season. The Mirror says Chelsea were last night closing in on the £8.5million signing of Genk winger De Bruyne.

But Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas is set to send the 20-year-old back out to his Belgian club on loan until the summer.

De Bruyne is ineligible for the knock-out phase of the Champions League.

So he is expected to see out the season with Genk before filling the squad place set to be vacated by Florent Malouda's anticipated summer departure.