Kevin won’t say it but he will not be satisfied until he has passed Messi and Ronaldo as the best in the world
De Bruyne has to wait for title but European comeback would lift him to top of the game
TWENTY years have passed since Jan van Troos set out in the rain on a Saturday afternoon to pursue a tip which came his way about a six-year-old in the village of Drongen.
The scout did not know the boy’s name but it soon became clear enough as a blond child clipped passes out of the puddles of a quagmire pitch.
‘It was the force out of his legs when he passed the ball,’ said Van Troos. ‘The better players you see at that age are not always the ones who dribble around three or four players.
‘He played the ball with strength out of the water, whether it was a long pass over 20 metres or a short pass over two metres. He was quite little. There were bigger guys. That was the first thing I saw. The other thing was that he was completely crazy about the game. There was only one thing in his head and that was playing football.’
He still raps passes into the feet of his team-mates, although these days, Kevin de Bruyne performs on immaculate surfaces, lighting up the world’s most prestigious competitions. He will compete with Liverpool’s Mo Salah for the player of the year prizes after flourishing this season under Pep Guardiola.
His Champions League dream hangs in the balance, with Liverpool, the team he supported as a boy, 3-0 up after an intense first leg at Anfield.
No one dares to dismiss a Manchester City response but it will be the biggest challenge yet for De Bruyne, the golden child in a golden season, one he has been building towards since Van Troos found him and tempted him into the youth ranks at KAA Gent.
‘It is a beautiful story,’ said Van Troos, now living in Drongen while scouting for Lokeren and the Belgian FA. ‘I’m proud to have played a part in it and to know Kevin and his family, they are normal people.
‘When he was younger there were people who doubted him because of his character. When he lost, he was angry. One time, when he lost a game with Gent at a youth tournament in the Netherlands, he sat down in the middle of the pitch and refused to move. He stayed sitting there, so angry. They wanted to move on to the next game because we were playing matches of 20 minutes. His father had to go on and take him from the field.’
Such stories were plentiful in De Bruyne’s youth career. At KRC Genk, coach Domenico Olivieri recalls his reaction to a day spent mountain biking in the hills during a training camp at Spa for the reserve-team squad.
Olivieri said: ‘Kevin is only 17 and he comes to me with a really red head and says, “Hey, what the f*** is this? This is nothing to do with football”.
‘I will never forget it. We really had to push him, saying, “Come on Kevin, it’s about character”. He made it to the end but he was not happy. That’s Kevin de Bruyne.’
Anger fuelled his ambition and his coaches tolerated his outbursts, even when he was critical of his team-mates. De Bruyne, 26, has always been dedicated to his football. ‘Most important, he was never satisfied,’ said Olivieri. ‘He hated to lose and sometimes it was not easy for other players.
‘He sees everything quicker and he always did. He would complain because other players were not at the level. Now he has the players around him and he will get better. You see him growing. Maybe he doesn’t say it — and it’s good that he doesn’t — but I think he wants to be the best. ‘Everybody’s talking about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of course, and you see their statistics for goals and assists but he wants to be close and he will keep going. ‘Messi and Ronaldo will start to fade in a few years and Kevin will still be on his way to the top. I think this is a target. He doesn’t talk too much about it. When he talks he’s calm and relaxed. He doesn’t say stupid things — he’s not a man who talks big — but he works hard and, in his heart, he knows what he wants.’
Hein Vanhaezebrouck, the Anderlecht manager who was formerly at Genk, once hailed De Bruyne as the ‘Cruyff of his generation’. ‘OK, maybe he is,’ said Olivieri, referring to his ability to assess the shape of play in an instant, select the correct solution and execute it with the perfect pass, cross or shot from either foot.
Not unlike Cruyff, De Bruyne has challenged authority when convinced he was right. Last week, with Belgium, he publicly questioned the tactical system deployed by Roberto Martinez.
Earlier in his career, despite the concerns of his father, he left home at 14 to join Genk. He broke into the first team at 17 and won the Belgian title at 19 and the corridors inside the academy are lined with photographs of successful graduates. De Bruyne is alongside Thibaut Courtois, Yannick Carrasco, Divock Origi and many more.
When progress stalled at Chelsea, he forced a move to Germany. Jurgen Klopp wanted him at Borussia Dortmund but Wolfsburg won the contest and then manager Dieter Hecking set to work boosting De Bruyne’s physique.
‘Coming from the Premier League he wasn’t used to the intensity of training we had in Wolfsburg,’ said Hecking. ‘Everybody could see his potential but he had to work on his athletic and
physical condition. ‘The team very quickly noticed he was a player who could make a difference with his sensational passing game, his anticipation and his character as a team player. Kevin is a player with a mind of his own but always willing to learn and improve. When he understood the importance of his work against the ball, he became the most important player of the team.’ Mario Been, Genk coach when De Bruyne was sold to Chelsea, also views the Bundesliga spell — a season on loan at Werder Bremen and 18 months with Wolfsburg — as crucial to his development. ‘He learned a lot in Germany,’ said Been. ‘He had to run and put energy into his game. When we had power training, he’d say, “I don’t like that coach, don’t worry, I will play well when I have to” but I think he changed because I can see his body is strong. ‘He came back really well and is playing at Manchester City with some of the biggest players in the world. He sees the solutions quicker than anyone else and they expect the ball and can control it even when he plays it so hard. It is unbelievable to see. He is a leader of the team. He has all the qualities you need.’ Been played with Cruyff at Feyenoord and is aware of the comparison. ‘You can say they both read the game,’ said the Dutchman. ‘Kevin still has to show it in the Belgium team. Mentally, they must still make a step. They have been missing a leader and hopefully Kevin, with his confidence, can lead them to something. I’m curious to find out.’ City are curious, too. Can he lead a rescue operation in the Champions League? If not, will it tarnish a magnificent campaign? Not for those back in Drongen where it all started and where they are busy preparing for the KDB Cup, an annual youth tournament set up in De Bruyne’s honour. Manchester City will attend this year for the first time and Guardiola has also accepted an invitation. They will all back their hero to extricate City from this European quagmire.
‘SOME DOUBTED HIS MENTALITY. AS A CHILD, HE’D REFUSE TO MOVE WHEN HE LOST’