De Bruyne was clearly not a talkative person. In fact, when he tried to answer Yang Yang's questions, he suddenly found that he didn't know where to begin. In the end, it was only with Yang Yang's guidance that he managed to talk about his experience training in football.
There was no doubt that he had been outstanding among his peers from a young age. He was quickly noticed by Genk, one of Belgium's biggest clubs at the time, and became a member of Genk's Youth Training Camp. At fourteen, he traveled to Genk alone.
"I think, deep down, I'm someone who likes trying new things, even someone who likes taking risks. Although many people don't see me that way, when I was fourteen, it really was my own decision to go to Genk."
"Moving alone from one end of Belgium to the other and adapting to a completely unfamiliar environment seemed terrifying to my parents. But I still decided to give it a try. As it turned out, all the inconveniences in daily life and the problems caused by my local accent made people at Genk look at me differently. I felt incredibly lonely."
"School was a two-hour drive from home. I couldn't go home every day, so I could only hurry home to see my parents on Sundays, when I had time off. During those two years at Genk's Youth Training Camp, I had no friends, no companions, no social life at all. I was even frequently mocked by my teammates. Those two years felt unbearably long."
Yang Yang listened to De Bruyne and nodded repeatedly. He had felt the same way.
That year in Almere had been incredibly, incredibly long. Every day had felt like a year's worth of suffering.
He had no friends. Although his uncle's