Professional soccer player Kevin De Bruyne is from Belgium. He plays attacking midfield for Manchester City of the Premier League and the Belgium national team. As one of the greatest talents in the world, he is highly regarded by many, with many analysts calling him a “complete soccer player.”
Throughout his career, De Bruyne has actively supported a variety of causes and is deeply committed to philanthropic endaors. He has given money to support the construction of a village in Dakar, Senegal, and serves as an ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages Belgium. De Bruyne likes to travel and spend time with his family when he’s not playing football. In addition, he loves American football and cheers for the Carolina Panthers.
His biggest strength is his ability to get assists in the last third of the game while maintaining his cool. He also claims to have excellent ball vision and can see passes that others miss. However, his rise to fame and glory was quite tough and he has seen a lot of hardships and dealt with them gracefully in his life. So let us take a deeper look into his early life:
Kevin De Bruyne’s early life
At the age of just 4, Young Kevin began playing football in his hometown of Gent, Belgium, where he resided with his parents. He started the game off well. Since his early start, the Belgian international’s development has been rapid. It originated from two main qualities: the first is perseverance, and the other is dedication. After moving to Gent, he enrolled in the KAA Gent youth academy.
Scouts from other teams were drawn to De Bruyne’s abilities on the field, and at the young age of 14, he was allowed to enroll in Genk’s youth program, which he accepted. He relocated to the Dutch side of Genk with his family, enrolled in a nearby high school, and started working out with the club’s young squads.
Kevin De Bruyne’s Parents
The 28th of June 1991 saw the birth of Kevin De Bruyne, whose parents are Herwig De Bruyne and Anna De Bruyne. He left his upbringing in the Drongen village, which is outside of Ghent, at the age of 14. He enrolled in Genk’s academy there and saw his family only on the weekends.
It was during this time that he developed his independence. He joined a foster family there that looked after him. Kevin was able to take care of himself even at fourteen. However, the story with his foster family did not end well according to Kevin De Bruyne himself.
Herwig De Bruyne, Kevin De Bruyne’s father, oversees his son’s professional life. His father is a successful businessman and skilled negotiator who has created a comprehensive career plan for his son. Regarding his mother, she was born in Burundi, East Africa, the location of one of her family’s oil companies, while her parents were born in the United Kingdom. This implies that her son’s path leads through Africa as well.
Kevin De Bruyne opens up on rejection from his foster family
Kevin De Bruyne was enrolled by the Genk’s academy squad and was enjoying his time over there. His skills and talents as a soccer player were admired by the coaches and the hierarchy, they found a foster family for him to settle and live in. However, this part of Kevin De Buryne’s life was the most crucial and life-changing part of his soccer career.
All of this occurred when he was fifteen years old. De Bruyne had previously joined with Genk to attend their academy and was demonstrating his undeniable skill. The Belgian playmaker had to leave residence early because Genk was 150 miles from his hometown of Drongen, which was the source of the issue.
De Bruyne was able to live in Genk thanks to the club’s arrangement for a foster family, and he expressed in the Players’ Tribune that he felt comfortable there: “The year went by, and I was doing well in school, doing well in football. No fights. No problems.”
De Bruyne spent a few months visiting his family back home after the season. “I packed my bags and said goodbye to my foster family. They said, “We’ll see you after the break. Have a good summer.” The City soccer star would not, however, see his foster family again.
“I walked in the door and could see that my mother was crying. I thought maybe somebody had died or something. KDB said, “What’s the problem?” And my mother said the words that probably shaped my whole life”. “She said, “They don’t want you to come back.”
I said, “What are you talking about?” She said, “The foster family don’t want you there anymore. ”I said, “What? Why?” She said, “Because of who you are. They said you’re too quiet, and can’t interact with you. They said you were difficult.”
“It was a huge issue for my career, because I was not a big star or anything, and suddenly the club thought I was a problem. They informed my parents that they didn’t want to pay for another foster family”. The Belgian would later find inspiration from this rejection.
Kevin De Bruyne’s answer to his foster parents
After the summer, De Bruyne came back to Genk and performed like an adult with much to prove. “I remember the exact moment everything changed. We played on a Friday night. I started on the bench. When I came on in the second half, I just went crazy. I scored five goals in one half”.
De Bruyne’s situation improved with encouragement and support, and his former foster family had a change of heart: “One day, the foster parents actually showed up at the club, and the woman came up to me like everything was a big misunderstanding. She said something like, “We wanted you to come back! We just wanted you to go to the boarding house during the week! You can stay with us on weekends!”
