Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has said his first “life-changing moment” came as a teenager when he was thrown out of home by a foster family he lived with during his second year at KRC Genk’s football academy in Belgium.
In an interview with the Players’ Tribune, De Bruyne said as a 14-year-old, he joined Genk’s academy, moving away from his family across Belgium.
He added that in his second year at the academy, he lived with a foster family, provided by the club, but after a season they said they did not want him back.
The Belgium player said that experience was the fuel for his career.
When his mother heard about it, she also tongue-lashed the teenager.
“It’s because of who you are,” De Bruyne’s mother told him.
“They said you’re too quiet. They can’t interact with you. They said you were difficult.”
He noted that his mother’s response made him determine that he was never going back home as a failure.
De Bruyne said:
“I kicked the ball against the fence for hours, and I remember at some point I actually said out loud, ‘Everything is going to be OK. In two months, I’m going to be in the first team. No matter what, I am not coming back home a failure.”
The following season, he was promoted to Genk’s second team, for whom he scored five goals in one half of a game.
“You could see the change in everybody around the club. I earned a spot on the first team within two months,” De Bruyne said.
“It’s funny to see the change in how people treat you in football when you’re doing well.”
He said his foster family turned up at the club saying they wanted him back, but he turned down their offer.
“They had really hurt me. So I said, ‘No. You threw me in the garbage. Now I’m doing well and you want me back?” De Bruyne said.
“In the end, I should have just said ‘thank you’. That experience was the fuel for my career. But, unfortunately, that cloud still followed me around for a long time.”
