Kevin de Bruyne, a boy rejected because of his shyness and who triumphed in the world of football

– Those were the loneliest years of my life. This is how he defines it Kevin de Bruyne (Drongen, Belgium, 1991) his first football steps. Like any child who wants to be a professional, the Belgian had to make a lot of sacrifices at a very young age. His character and his way of life did not help his adaptation in elementary school football. He was only 15 years old when he first experienced rejection. First his foster family, and years later Jose Mourinho.

The summer of 2006 changed De Bruyne’s life. After six years in Gent, he moved to the lower categories of the league genk, one of the most recognized Belgium. 150 kilometers away from his town, he had to leave his parents and his home to settle down with a foster family.

“That first year, I was very good at school, at soccer and at home. There were no problems,” said the Manchester City star in an interview with Players. After the season, I packed my bags, said goodbye and they told me: ‘See you after the holidays, have a nice summer,’ he explained. Nothing foreshadowed what was about to happen. “When I returned home and entered the door, I saw my mother crying. I felt worse, I thought someone had died. At that moment she told me the words that shaped my life: ‘They don’t want you back, the foster family doesn’t want you there anymore.’ I asked him why, and he replied that it was because of who I was. They said he was too shy, quiet and that coexistence was difficult. I really felt abandoned. There were some words that stuck in my head forever: they didn’t like me because ‘I am who I am’, but that temptation was the fuel for my careersaid the football player.

Years later, when Kevin was making a name for himself in football, his foster family reached out to him again. But there was no going back because the damage was already done. “People change when you do good. They approached me but I said ‘No, I’m sorry’. They threw me in the trash and now when I’m well they want me to come back?”, asked the player during the interview. And he didn’t come back.

Mourinho turned him down

But that wasn’t the only time De Bruyne felt rejected in his career. In 2012, Klopp tried to sign him for Borussia Dortmund. But the Belgian had higher expectations. Few projects could compete economically with what he offered Chelsea from Abramovich. Bad decision. In his first course, he hardly had minutes, and in the winter market he went on loan to Werder Bremen. The second season was even worse. WITH Mourinho back, he stopped on the bench.

“I thought it was part of his plans, but I only played three games until December. So he called me, I went to his office, he took out some papers and said: ‘One assist, zero goals and ten recoveries.’ It took me a minute to understand what he was saying. He started to read the statistics of the other teammates, and I told him that they played twenty games, not three like me,” replied the Belgian, who felt that Mourinho called him a crybaby. In January 2014, he was transferred to Wolfsburg, where he began to reap success and become a top football player.