A rejection that created one of the best midfielders in the world. Kevin De Bruyne has described how a childhood disappointment turned into motivation

Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best midfielders in the world right now. He has a superior mindset, great technique, passing and shooting and is enjoying dominance in the Premier League with Manchester City. Where did he get the motivation to get to the very top?

De Bruyne is one of Belgium’s youth football education projects, which has sent many unique footballers out into the world and brought the country a World Cup bronze. Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Courtouis, Carrasco, Mertens, Witsel and many others came out of the brilliantly set Belgian youth system.

The current Citizens midfielder started his career at Genk, where he joined at the age of 14. Parting from his parents was hard for little Kevin, especially when he spent his first year at a big boarding school where several children slept in one room. Fortunately, the next year he went to a host family, but it certainly didn’t go according to plan.

“I can get by on my own, I’m quite shy. I thought everything was fine, my foster parents never had to go to school to deal with disciplinary or study problems. At the end of the year, I said goodbye to them without knowing what was going to happen,” De Bruyne told The Players Tribune.

“Then one day I came home and my parents were sad and crying. I asked what was wrong and they told me that my host family didn’t want me anymore. I asked why and they said it was because of the way I was. I didn’t understand. ‘It’s hard to get along with you, you’re too quiet. You have trouble fitting in with the other kids. They just think you’re difficult,” they explained.

It’s not nice to hear that when you’re 15 or 16. I kicked a ball against the wall for hours that day. I told myself that everything would be fine, that in a few months I would be in the first team and never experience failure again.

When I came back after the summer, I was in the B-team and I told my parents that in two months I would be in the A-team. I trained like a madman, I had the passion. It was like I was going crazy. I remember we played one Friday night, I was on the bench. I came on the field and I scored five goals. That day changed my history at the club and I joined the A-team,” De Bruyne described his story.

After all, the skilful midfielder had to experience failure and rejection once more, this when he was supposed to shine at Chelsea after great seasons at Genk and Bremen. But he failed to make a name for himself there, appearing in just three Premier League games and in January 2014, after just half a season in a Blues jersey, the London club got rid of him.

But that was probably a big mistake, as De Bruyne unlocked his full potential at Wolfsburg. He played two fantastic seasons, especially in the second one, in which he scored 16 goals, he impressed the whole of Europe.

Then came the move to Manchester City, where De Bruyne dominated the centre of the pitch in most games and his club dominated the whole of England. And his stats are impressive, racking up 49 goals and 80 assists in six and a half seasons in the Premier League.

So being rejected by his host family at 15 has only had the best effect on him. So it can serve as an example for young footballers to take only the best from the negative things in life.

Source: The Players Tribune