It hasn’t taken long for Kevin De Bruyne to establish himself as one of the most coveted players in Germany, indeed in Europe. Since records began, no player has assisted as many goals in a Bundesliga season. All since he returned to Germany. On Saturday the 23 year old will take centre stage at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, as his side VfL Wolfsburg face Borussia Dortmund in the hunt for their first DFB Cup win.
Not a selfie man
You would like to think that he had some quirky, unusual hobbies outside of football right? “Sleep”, he says. “And computer games” Oh, does he practice his own tricks on his console? “No, no” he insists, “I play other games.” He spent his first pay cheque on a Playstation. His other hobbies? “TV series’.”
Perhaps the greatest footballer in VfL Wolfsburg’s history has no problem coming across as unspectacular. Fancy cars? Extravagant girlfriends? Or at least the occasional attention-seaking Twitter selfie? No, no, no. "I just want to play football“, De Bruyne said, "that’s it.
Allofs: "Kevin has that special footballing instinct"
So if you want to find Kevin De Bruyne, it’s best to look in the stadium. There you will moments like on matchday 31, when Hannover’s Miiko Albornoz actually had possession, before De Bruyne dispossessed him in the blink of an eye, already feeding the ball through to Bas Dost who simply needed to score. It was so quick that it was as if the Belgian’s eyes had instructed his feet directly, of which he can use both equally.
It is his speed which separates De Bruyne from other players in the Bundesliga. The speed with which he finds himself in a situation and immediately knows what to do, before executing with incredible precision. That is why he made the most assists in Bundesliga history and became a standout player for VfL Wolfsburg. “He has that special footballing instinct, that not all players have”, said VfL sporting director Klaus Allofs. “He is able to assess situations very well.” And opponents can do very little about it.
“Dribbling fast is something I can easily do”
When he was three years old, De Bruyne’s parents built a home with a garden. He would play there up until the age of six before playing for KVV Drongen. Everyone saw that “Kev” had more talent than the others, and after a loss Kevin would always be upset. De Bruyne never really liked living in the countryside as he found the rural environment “boring”.
Kevin then transferred to a football academy in Genk, a city which was one and a half hours away from his house. Nothing much changed since the age of six as De Bruyne still wanted to win every match. But, did he have enough to turn this ambition into a professional career? “It never really interested me if I was more talented than the others,” said De Bruyne. “I always wanted to have fun while playing football. Then one day I said to myself, I can become a professional and then I really picked up the pace.”
He developed his style by strictly playing one touch, while developing his fast dribbling by zipping past tight holes that he found in opposing defenders. “I have no idea where this came from, but I love doing it,” says De Bruyne with a smile on his face. But, everything I do I want to do it fast. In fact, he is so fast that right after training it took him five minutes to shower and come back for the interview.
Allofs steers him from Chelsea to Wolfsburg
It hasn’t taken long for Kevin De Bruyne to establish himself as one of the most coveted players in Germany, indeed in Europe. Since records began, no player has assisted as many goals in a Bundesliga season. All since he returned to Germany. On Saturday the 23 year old will take centre stage at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, as his side VfL Wolfsburg face Borussia Dortmund in the hunt for their first DFB Cup win.
Not a selfie man
You would like to think that he had some quirky, unusual hobbies outside of football right? “Sleep”, he says. “And computer games” Oh, does he practice his own tricks on his console? “No, no” he insists, “I play other games.” He spent his first pay cheque on a Playstation. His other hobbies? “TV series’.”
Perhaps the greatest footballer in VfL Wolfsburg’s history has no problem coming across as unspectacular. Fancy cars? Extravagant girlfriends? Or at least the occasional attention-seaking Twitter selfie? No, no, no. "I just want to play football“, De Bruyne said, "that’s it.
Allofs: "Kevin has that special footballing instinct"
So if you want to find Kevin De Bruyne, it’s best to look in the stadium. There you will moments like on matchday 31, when Hannover’s Miiko Albornoz actually had possession, before De Bruyne dispossessed him in the blink of an eye, already feeding the ball through to Bas Dost who simply needed to score. It was so quick that it was as if the Belgian’s eyes had instructed his feet directly, of which he can use both equally.
It is his speed which separates De Bruyne from other players in the Bundesliga. The speed with which he finds himself in a situation and immediately knows what to do, before executing with incredible precision. That is why he made the most assists in Bundesliga history and became a standout player for VfL Wolfsburg. “He has that special footballing instinct, that not all players have”, said VfL sporting director Klaus Allofs. “He is able to assess situations very well.” And opponents can do very little about it.
“Dribbling fast is something I can easily do”
When he was three years old, De Bruyne’s parents built a home with a garden. He would play there up until the age of six before playing for KVV Drongen. Everyone saw that “Kev” had more talent than the others, and after a loss Kevin would always be upset. De Bruyne never really liked living in the countryside as he found the rural environment “boring”.
Kevin then transferred to a football academy in Genk, a city which was one and a half hours away from his house. Nothing much changed since the age of six as De Bruyne still wanted to win every match. But, did he have enough to turn this ambition into a professional career? “It never really interested me if I was more talented than the others,” said De Bruyne. “I always wanted to have fun while playing football. Then one day I said to myself, I can become a professional and then I really picked up the pace.”
He developed his style by strictly playing one touch, while developing his fast dribbling by zipping past tight holes that he found in opposing defenders. “I have no idea where this came from, but I love doing it,” says De Bruyne with a smile on his face. But, everything I do I want to do it fast. In fact, he is so fast that right after training it took him five minutes to shower and come back for the interview.
Allofs steers him from Chelsea to Wolfsburg
When he was 17-years-old he was already playing for KRC Genk in the Belgium top flight. One year later, Bayer Leverkusen was after him but a case of glandular fever, a torn ligament, and two toe fractures, stopped him from making a move to another club in a different country. Klaus Allofs, who was at Werder Bremen at the time, had De Bruyne on his wish list. But up against, Chelsea no one could compete as De Bruyne took his talents to London. But the line-up in London was too big, too big for someone who always wanted to play. Allofs followed what was going on and brought him to Bremen on a year-long loan. De Bruyne learned what the Bundesliga was about, and the Bundesliga learned what he was about as his ten goals and nine assists were enough for Bremen to remain in the first league back in 2013.
For another half year he tried to make it work in London, but the resemblance to Prince Harry was a bigger discussion point than his game as coach Jose Mourinho left him on the bench. “I think there is not another team who has such a strong roster like Chelsea,” said De Bruyne. It was Allofs who came knocking once more as he was now the sporting director at Wolfsburg.
He just wants to play
And it’s there where the man, who only wants to play football, has flourished. At the point where his foot injury kept him out of the Europa League match against Napoli in April, he had played 49 competitive matches in the season – more than any other player in the Bundesliga. And that, even though he played until the quarter-final stage of last summer’s World Cup. “He sulks if you keep him out the team”, said Hecking grinning.
Is that true? De Bruyne laughs. "No, but everyone wants to play every game. If I feel like I cannot play then I say something. But the manager makes the decision. “It wasn’t easy for Kevin after the World Cup”, said Hecking, "you could see how much it took out of him, especially because his style requires a high intensity and a lot of taking on players. But he has an extraordinary ability to cope.”
What’s missing? "A cup"
Hecking and Allofs needed to tease out yet another extraordinary ability from him. During the winter break De Bruyne had assisted ten goals and scored three. “Back then we told him that he needed to score more goals”, remembers Hecking. In the second half of the season he set up even more and scored seven, instead of three. “He is the best player I have ever played with”, said goalkeeper and captain Diego Benaglio. And there are few others in the team who would argue against that.
What’s still missing? "A cup", thinks De Bruyne. He has already won one, the Belgian cup with Genk in 2009. “Back then I had only played three or four matches, I was on the bench for the for the final and I couldn’t really join in with the celebration party because I was only 17, so it doesn’t really count.” Now, aged 23, he is old enough for a proper cup party. In order to get there though, he need only do what he loves the most – play football.
