As you say, at the time I dont remember anyone going mad about it. Ditto De Bruyne.
Easy to be wise after the event but the reality is, it was the right decision at the time. At that time, neither of them would have got ahead of Hazard and Willian, who have actually since gone on to help us win two League titles and been club players of the year.
Many of the people who slag off Jose for “not giving them a chance” are the same people screaming whenever Conte plays Bakayoko or Morata, and writing them off.

Ultimately, this club rarely signs bad players but you can’t play all of them all of the time, and you can’t keep all of them in the hope they’ll all end up having great seasons a few years down the line.