De Bruyne began his ascent to the summit of world football at age six, playing with his local club in the Ghent suburb of Drongen, in north Belgium. A Liverpool fan who idolised Michael Owen, he would play whenever he could, in the local park or in his back garden.

He joined Genk’s academy in its youth system and started honing his skills. During his early years at the academy itself, he started gaining media attention and was already a star player in his teenage. Although his family had no dearth of money, Kevin survived on the very little money that he made at the club.

De Bruyne studied Latin for two years at a young age on the whim of wanting to learn more. On the side, his love for football grew and as a youngster he joined local amateur side VV Drongen, the team from the town of his birth. At age 8 he left for Gent “because their training sessions were much better,” he berated his VV Drongen youth coach with.