Manchester City midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, recently recounted an emotional story of how he was rejected and even chased away from home by his family when he was still a teen.
Speaking to Players Tribune, the English Premier League (EPL) player of the season noted that the incident happened when he was 14 years old and still in school.
At that age, De Bruyne informed his parents about his passion for football and the need to join an academy. The talented footballer decided to move all by himself from one side of Belgium to the other on a two hour drive to join a football academy based in Genk.
At his age at the time, the Belgian national was still shy which significantly affected his social life at the academy. He found himself lonely most of the time.
"The problem was that I was already shy in my hometown. At Genk, I was the new kid from the other side of the country who spoke in a funny dialect. It was lonely, for sure. I didn’t really learn to have a social life, because the only day we had off was Sunday, and that was my opportunity to travel home to see my family. So my first two years at the academy were probably the loneliest years I’ll ever live," De Bruyne told Players Tribune.
The club took him in either way accepting to pay for him to stay with a foster family. During the end year break, De Bruyne went back home but on reaching, he was shocked after his mother informed him that his foster family did not want him anymore.
"But then as soon as I got back to my parents’ house, I walked in the door and could see that my mother was crying. I thought maybe somebody had died or something."
She said: “They don’t want you to come back.”
His mother then explained to him that they had rejected him since he was too difficult and too quiet to blend with them.
"I was really shocked. It felt like such a personal thing. The family never said anything to my face. There were never any problems. I stayed to myself in my room. I never bothered anyone. They waved goodbye to me like everything was fine. And then they informed the club that they didn’t want me anymore," he explained.
"It was actually 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. I was moved to another boarding house and lived there — and not like fancy house. It was more like a place for troubled kids," he added.
However, De Bruyne did not allow that moment of rejection to get on his way to stardom. He packed his bag and returned to Genk determined to find a home for himself.
His determination and focus to beat poverty paid off after the football club promoted him. On his debut, De Bruyne scored five goals after coming in as a substitute.
"After that, you could see the change in everybody around the club. I earned a spot in the first team within two months. I think I beat my goal by a few days. And then, of course, the club told my family that they wanted to pay for a foster family again," he stated.
But his past almost ruined his career at Chelsea as the press kept referring to him as a difficult person.
"It’s true that I can blow up sometimes, especially on the pitch. I tend to hold things inside, and then bang — I lose my head. Usually five seconds later, I’m calm again. But I feel a little bit misunderstood. Everything I’ve ever done in football really comes down to one thing — I want to play," he told Players Tribune.
But the rejection fueled his ambition till he joined Manchester City and helped the club win over five trophies in England.
"When I met my wife, and especially after our first son was born, I was not doing it alone anymore. When we started our family and I came to play for City, everything just took off," De Bruyne concluded.