Kevin De Bruyne is a Belgian midfielder who captains both Manchester City in the Premier League and the Belgium national team. Renowned for his technique, skill, athleticism, work ethic, vision, and accurate crossing, De Bruyne is considered one of the best and most versatile modern playmakers.
Early life and Education
Kevin De Bruyne was born on June 28, 1991. His mother, who is Belgian, was born in Burundi and has lived in the Ivory Coast. She grew up in London after her Flemish parents moved there for work, and returned to Belgium only after meeting Kevin’s father, Herwig. The family settled in Drongen, near Ghent in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium. De Bruyne speaks Dutch, English, French, and German. As a child, he frequently visited his grandparents in London, and when he joined Chelsea in 2012, he remarked that London felt like his second home.
Career
De Bruyne began his professional career at Genk, where he was a key player in their 2010–11 Belgian Pro League win. In 2012, he moved to Chelsea but saw limited playing time and was loaned to Werder Bremen. In 2014, De Bruyne signed with Wolfsburg for £18 million, becoming one of the Bundesliga’s top players and helping the club win the 2014–15 DFB-Pokal. In the summer of 2015, he joined Manchester City for a then-club record £54 million. With City, he has won the UEFA Champions League, six Premier League titles, five League Cups, and two FA Cups. He played a pivotal role in City’s record-breaking 100-point Premier League season in 2017–18 and matched the Premier League record for most assists in a season in 2019–20, earning the Player of the Season award, which he won again in 2021–22. He was instrumental in City’s treble-winning 2022–23 season.
Internationally, De Bruyne debuted for Belgium in 2010 and has earned over 100 caps, scoring 27 goals. He played in the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 quarter-finals, was named to the 2018 World Cup Dream Team as Belgium finished third, and participated in Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
De Bruyne’s accolades include five selections each to the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, IFFHS Men’s World Team, and ESM Team of the Year; four to the FIFA FIFPRO World 11; three to the UEFA Team of the Year; and one each to the France Football World XI and Bundesliga Team of the Year. He has also been named Premier League Playmaker of the Season three times, PFA Players’ Player of the Year twice, Manchester City’s Player of the Year four times, UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season, Bundesliga Player of the Year, German Footballer of the Year, Belgian Sportsman of the Year, and IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker three times.
Personal life
Kevin De Bruyne has been in a relationship with Michèle Lacroix since 2014, and they married in June 2017. The couple has three children together. His autobiography, “Keep It Simple,” was published in October 2014 by Borgerhoff & Lamberigts. The book addresses an incident involving De Bruyne’s then-girlfriend, who left him for fellow footballer Thibaut Courtois. Despite the personal conflict, De Bruyne noted that he and Courtois continue to work together professionally.
De Bruyne served as an ambassador for the 2014 Special Olympics in Antwerp. He was part of a controversial advertising campaign on his Instagram account that featured the slogan “Would you still be my fan if I looked like this?” in Dutch, showing him altered to resemble a person with Down’s syndrome.
Net Worth
Undisclosed